actual conversation from saturday

[jazzfish]

COWORKER R: So what did you do before?

ME: I was a tech writer for a bunch of software companies.

R: Oh, like documentation? Isn't that really boring?

ME: I mean, that's part of why I'm not doing it anymore.

R: Yeah, it's part knowing the tech, which is a real skill, and the rest is just admin work.

ME: Okay, I disagree pretty strongly with that.

R: I'm a program manager at a tech company, and we replaced three of our four writers with ChatGPT. The last writer just has to proofread it.

ME: This conversation is over.

---

I saw the writing on the wall a year and a half ago, and I have no regrets about getting out.

Maybe in another five years whatever parts of "the tech industry" care about documentation will realize that no, actually they do need real writers. I'm not optimistic.

Comments

[reedrover]

I just saw a “We told you so” post about medical transcription and AI. The AI transcription service at one hospital contracted for is so bad that the previously-fired human service had to be re-hired to clean up all of the AI-transcribed stuff.

[jazzfish]

HA. Sounds about right. I'm still stuck on "AI-generated foraging guides for sale on Amazon will kill you."

[jessie_c]

I don't know why they're calling it 'artificial intelligence' when it's really 'actual stupid'.

[jazzfish]

If I were an actual AI researcher I would be furious.

[shadowkat]

Basically they put you down all the way through the conversation to build themselves up? Ugh.

Also, I really wish people would stop dissing admin. Admin is important. How do people think they get paid? That items are paid for or provided? Their rights are upheld? Benefits, health and otherwise provided? Etc? By osmosis? I worked for a tech company once - a video game distributor/developer - which ignored the administrative department and kind of saw it as immaterial, the cool kids were the game developers and sales. That tech company is long gone, got swallowed up by another one - who cared about admin.

[jazzfish]

The "just admin" attitude is ESPECIALLY galling in this case: the guy's elections job is 'recruiter,' identifying and interviewing potential pollworkers. Which has an awful lot of administrative components. And which it's my understanding that he screwed up some of, resulting in a cascading failure of scheduling and hiring that took much of last week to sort out.

I try not to think about the sheer amount of money sloshing around in tech, or the degree to which programmers think they're inherently superior to everyone else and thus deserve all that money, because it just makes me annoyed in multiple directions. Including towards some folks I count as friends.

[shadowkat]

Oh, I hear you on that.

I kind of stepped in it yesterday - when I was asking a co-worker about a new job she was taking. She said it was a manager, and that her tasks included checking payroll, if there were enough trains, if various safety measures were followed, timecards...

ME: So administrative section?

Co-workers: No, it's not administrative, she's managing people.

Me: Uhm, administrative doesn't mean being a secretary, it means checking payroll, and that there's enough of this, etc.

Co-worker who is leaving looks at me in abject horror, radiating dislike: okay fine, whatever you think it is, I have to leave now.

[Good news, after this week? It's unlikely I'll have to deal with her again.]