AI
A $200 ChatGPT subscription could cost OpenAI $14,000 if you actually used it to its full potential
I was unaware that the breakeven utilization percentages were so low. Agentic workflows can consume tokens quickly, and the article mentions large companies throttling their efforts. The simplest play is to pick an appropriate model; even the “lower” models are quite capable. Some companies are moving to other providers like DeepSeek. “For now, AI providers are juggling two forces: users want powerful tools at low, predictable monthly prices, but the infrastructure to run them remains costly and highly sensitive to usage.”
This post had a laundry list of things required to make software systems production-ready. “Software is an industry intent on automating as much as possible. It usually automates the boring stuff, which lets us focus on the fun stuff. And the fun stuff is solving real problems, not typing code.”
AI Demands More Discipline. Not Less.
There were a few impactful quotations in this post. One of my favorites was, “Non-deterministic systems will require more discipline.Not less.” Also, “Having nondeterministic code in production is finally forcing us to do the things we should have done all along.”
GenAI is Changing the Future of Development Teams
- Downsides of AI: privacy risks, bias against underrepresented minorities, environmental impacts, increases the concentration of power for a small number of tech companies.
- Even if the AI bubble bursts today, the technology developed so far will still have profound effects on software development. The future is here and it’s unevenly distributed.
- Maintenance mode = rate of defect fixes, platform upgrades, and vulnerability patches exceeds the rate of new functionality
- The more overall time spent on maintenance work means the less time spent on value-adding work.
- AI can speed up maintenance work but only within the limits of your delivery process.
- Barriers to bringing in AI tools: procurement, security approval, lacking technical guardrails, lacking good designs
- AI can simplify and automate the change approval process.
Personal growth
Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristen Neff, Ph.D
Although the impetus for reading this book was personal development, there are concepts that apply when relating to others in the workplace. In Western societies that focus on individualism and independence, it’s easy to get into self-defeating traps of feeling poorly about yourself. I suspect this is amplified with social media presenting everyone’s highlight real. One takeaway for me is that everyone suffers, everyone makes mistakes, and nobody has everything figured out. Giving yourself compassion isn’t lazy; it builds emotional resilience and allows you to see things more clearly.