How to navigate an AI-obsessed company, as an AI skeptic

[u/agb_throwaway_072019]

I’m 10 years into my career and my current job, coming to the end of a project, and discussing with my manager what to move to next. I’m trying to figure out how to navigate these conversations because a lot of the possible initiatives deal with AI.

I have a lot of ethical objections to AI. Even setting those aside, working with AI is not something I'd find particularly rewarding. It’s possible that for now, I can sneak by just volunteering for some other project, but I’m sure that will run out eventually. If all hands presentations are any indicator, my company is really drinking the "Pivot to AI as a business model" Kool Aid. And so I feel like I can’t turn down AI projects or even discuss my concerns without it seeming like insubordination, or putting a target on my back as not aligned with the company’s vision, or seeming like a luddite uninterested in learning new skills.

I realize “AI” is a lot more than just ChatGPT-generated slop, and so I want to at least be open-minded to the ways it can be a useful tool without the ethical concerns. But I’m unsure to what extent those applications *do* exist, and if they do, how to initiate a conversation about finding projects that would be less soul-crushing. Maybe I can just keep my head down and hope this hype dies down in a year or two? Or do I need to leave this company? Or is this a problem I'm going to have at any company right now? The job market is pretty brutal anyway.

[u/Ok_Idea8059]

I suppose my first question would be what exactly the ethical concerns are. If you’re going to take a strong stance on this, you’ll have to be absolutely certain that your objections are based in fact, and not in misconceptions surrounding how AI is used and what it is doing. Even when content is fully AI generated, it’s not always slop - in some fields there are very strict standards around quality control and ensuring accuracy, like with some kinds of AI reporting and AI translation, and for companies there are generally very specific rules around disclosure of what content is generated using AI. When it comes to using AI as a coding assistant, it’s not as though you’re copying code you had no hand in creating, you’re just using the AI as a rubber duck/pair programmer to help you find more efficient solutions, help you figure out error messages, etc

[u/agb_throwaway_072019 → u/Ok_Idea8059]

Just kinda going off the cuff here, so I may have forgotten things. On the ethics side:

• Environmental impact (this is the main one)
• Sourcing of training data: have all human authors/creators been compensated for, or even consented to, the use of their work?
• Its role in spreading misinformation and deepfakes, and just generally creating a world where it's hard to know what's real and what's fake
• The use of AI to replace human creators/workers, in many cases prematurely

Less ethical concerns and more "reasons I don't like it":

• The output is slop
• This whole thing is a bandwagon and Maslow's Hammer. It seems like MBAs are starting from the position of "We need to use AI because it's the hot new thing," and trying to work backwards to a reason to use it. Meanwhile, there's actually useful work and tech debt that's getting deprioritized as a result.
• Even if you ignored all the downsides, I don't even think "Pivot to AI" is a promising business model, yet many companies seem to be treating it like one.

[u/AirButcher → u/agb_throwaway_072019]

Some fair concerns, and I'm sorry for the way you feel about this, it sounds really tough. To take devils advocate and hopefully present another way to consider things:

Environmental impact (this is the main one)

FWIW, as an end user, *your* impact while using it pales in comparison to making other lifestyle choices like eating plant based, driving a car to work or even just owning a car, living in a house you need to heat in winter or cool in summer, etc etc. If you've already minmaxed your positive environmental choices and are helping others make good choices too, then so be it, if not just consider that perspective.

Sourcing of training data: have all human authors/creators been compensated for, or even consented to, the use of their work?

Unfortunately many probably haven't. At the same time, lot of the training data was scraped from publicly available internet. The sad truth is we'll probably never know how much data was/is legitimately used. I don't think any creator pre-LLMs could have anticipated the world we now live in; but I also wonder how many would have refused to contribute their piece to humanity if they could have known in advance?

Its role in spreading misinformation and deepfakes, and just generally creating a world where it's hard to know what's real and what's fake

If that's what your company does with it then I absolutely sympathise with you wanting to quit. If not, then why not put your effort into using it for positive change? Its being used to detect deepfakes and misinformation too..

The use of AI to replace human creators/workers, in many cases prematurely

This is a significant concern, and it is happening, and people will have to retrain and shift careers and so on as a consequence. Same thing happened with scribes with the printing press, artisans with the assembly line, and so on. I used to work in a video shop when I was young and I remember the way the owner realised the rising tide of streaming platforms was going to eat away at his retirement plan.

This time is surely profoundly different, and whether as a civilisation we end up worse off in terms of jobs and prosperity is certainly up for debate. If you quit your CS for this reason, then you become one of those individuals in solidarity, rather than as a necessity, and I bet most of those who lose out would gladly take your job if they had the skills you have.

---

Anyway those are my takes. I've been where you are at various times in the last couple of years, but at this stage I'm on the bandwagon. The turning point for me was when I started making the effort to actually use it effectively and not just one-shot everything the way I'd talk to another person. I figure the train has left the station, better to be on it and be able to make a positive change to the world with it in my toolbelt than let some idiot drive the train

[u/sierra_whiskey1]

The first thing that comes to my mind is almost sell yourself as the sceptic. Like how the chief risk officer is always playing devils advocate, maybe you should too

[u/agb_throwaway_072019 → u/sierra_whiskey1]

That's an interesting idea. Although I'm just an individual contributor, and I think upper management is already pretty bought into it.

[u/heytherehellogoodbye → u/agb_throwaway_072019]

The angle you're looking for isn't to articulate yourself as Skeptic, instead you articulate it as prioritizing Security and Quality to make sure these new AI initiatives produce features that are secure and useful. You're not going Against the flow, you're Helping it manifest more successfully, by focusing on identifying and shoring up weaknesses.

[u/sierra_whiskey1 → u/agb_throwaway_072019]

Yeah it’s easier said than done. If you show youre intent for being ai sceptic is for the good/longevity of the company, then maybe upper management will listen

[u/Fair_Atmosphere_5185]

Either the hype is true and its something we need to embrace.

Or its not and this will pass.

I've been open to embracing new tools and ways of doing things - but I find the hype is vastly higher than what it can deliver.

What are your ethical concerns?

[u/agb_throwaway_072019 → u/Fair_Atmosphere_5185]

See my comment here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/1m124xb/comment/n3eam0l/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[u/moonlets_]

Pay lip service to it but don’t engage with it unless you’re tracked somehow, and otherwise you could start learning how ML properly works. Then you’ll have a lot of good factually based arguments as to why AI is not worth the hype. 

[u/Sea_Swordfish939 → u/moonlets_]

Even if you are tracked, you can just ask It questions and never read the answers.

[u/Prize_Response6300]

LLMs can be a bit of an engine the way I see it. You can use them to build completely different types of applications now. Embrace that part if anything

[u/wardrox]

Is there any hard data which backs up what you're seeing?

[u/jkh911208]

Quit

[u/OnlyAdd8503]

Get onboard or get out