Don't Panic

And bring a towel.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you have homework.

You know with that lead in I'm going to talk about AI. Sorry, can't help it. It's on my mind quite a lot. It's in the news, oh, a whole lot. The majority of those stories can be summed up in a single word:

PANIC!

While I know I'm just some rando on the internet and my opinion is worth every single penny you're paying for it (for those confused, it's zero, zero pennies), I have a few words to share beyond "Don't panic."

First up, yeah, if you haven't been working with the LLMs and Agentic AI, you might not be aware of it, but, yes, these things are going to be disruptive. Potentially, massively disruptive. Every new technology that's truly ground breaking, and this very much qualifies, eliminates jobs and changes career paths. Every new technology also creates new jobs and different career paths. I know these two facts because a) I'm old and I've seen similar shows before, b) I read a lot of history, including the history of technology. We're still in the early days of this disruption. Anyone who says they know for certain how things are going to turn out is selling you something (and how much did you pay for this?). I'm not going to tell you that I know exactly how things are going to turn out here, but I know, for certain, there's going to be good with the bad. What? Where? Haven't a clue. If I did, I'd be charging you.

Next, if you haven't been working with the LLMs and Agentic AI, dude, come on, it's time to start. One thing I can say about these things is that they mainly constitute yet another tool. This tool may be powerful. It may serve a whole slew of functions. However, it's just a tool. Like any tool, the likelihood of picking it up and putting it to work without any practice or knowledge of it is going to end in pain. Quick story about a hammer. I grew up around craftsmen. My uncles on my mom's side of the family all put tools in my hands at an early age. So, I learned how to use a hammer. I was helping a friend build some stuff. Another friend of his was also helping. Other friend was a big, buff, weight lifter dude. Huge. Me, I'm pretty weak in the upper body frankly. Yet, I was pounding in nails in 2-4 sharp hits of the hammer. Giant muscled guy was hitting them 15-20 times, hard as he could, bending a lot of them. Why? I knew how a hammer worked and he just didn't. AI = Hammer. It's inevitable. You're going to use them at some point. Learn how to use them well. It's just a tool.

Finally, seriously, don't panic. Spit out the black pill. Yeah, there's a lot happening around technology right now and it's scary. Your job, as a technologist, is not to freak out. It's to learn, understand, and then appropriately apply. Further, sticking your head in the sand and hoping this all blows over 'cause it's a fad and a bubble, HALLUCINATIONS, ain't going to work well for you. Yes, there are simply metric tonnes of hype. Yes, it is a bubble (tulip or canal, we don't yet know). Yeah, they do make up the darndest things. However, it's a new tool that's going to be used for a long time. Best to learn how to use it.

Grant Fritchey

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