Developing taste and discernment is what will set you apart

Competing in a world with (artificial) intelligence

Hand Plane. Pig Shed Toolbox - photo from Ollin

I was reading an article, “The end of programming as we know it” by Tim O’Reilly at the weekend as it was referenced by John Naughton in his Observer New Review column. I’m not going to get into the future of AI and how it will/will-not reshape business and our jobs. What I wanted to highlight was the example, about 70% into the article that describes what using AI assistants look like in the hands of an experienced senior engineer who has adopted the technology.

They’re applying years of hard-won engineering wisdom to shape and constrain the AI’s output.

What that called to mind, and O’Reilly covers at the start of his article is that hard-won engineering wisdom comes through a process of continual curiosity and learning as technology evolves. The tools and techniques we use today are different from those that were popular when we started.

The second is that it isn’t just learning the technology and associated methods, but also developing an accumulating sense of capability that allows experienced professionals and craftspeople to adapt, rapidly grow, and deliver outsized performance. The willingness and motivation to do that, evolve, and change is central to being an expert practitioner.