The class solidarity argument has been a part of “AI” discourse in many fields for a while now.
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The class solidarity argument has been a part of “AI” discourse in many fields for a while now. It doesn’t settle the debate but it’s a rationale many will acknowledge even if they disagree
Except in coding. Mention it to software devs and most will look at you as if you just spoke in tongues
This is a long-standing characteristic of the field and it explains a lot of what’s been going on in tech. If you can’t even empathise with people doing the same job as you—that share your circumstances—what are the chances of you caring about the end user or the effects of your work on society?
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The class solidarity argument has been a part of “AI” discourse in many fields for a while now. It doesn’t settle the debate but it’s a rationale many will acknowledge even if they disagree
Except in coding. Mention it to software devs and most will look at you as if you just spoke in tongues
@baldur Agreed, although I'm not sure about "most", I think this is very bubble specific. Some bubbles of devs will fully understand and agree, and others will defend their sycophantic "assistant" until the end of the earth.
That said, there's definitely an empathy problem in the industry, coming from us being pitted against each other, and discouraged from unionising, by the above average wages we historically got. Making it a very "got mine, fuck you" industry, that is now speedrunning the consequences of that attitude.
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This is a long-standing characteristic of the field and it explains a lot of what’s been going on in tech. If you can’t even empathise with people doing the same job as you—that share your circumstances—what are the chances of you caring about the end user or the effects of your work on society?
@baldur sorry to nitpick, but by "emphasise" did you perhaps mean "empathise"?
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This is a long-standing characteristic of the field and it explains a lot of what’s been going on in tech. If you can’t even empathise with people doing the same job as you—that share your circumstances—what are the chances of you caring about the end user or the effects of your work on society?
@baldur@toot.cafe I listened to an interview with Robert Dorschel, the author of this book, and found it illuminating: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-social-codes-of-tech-workers-a-contradictory-middle-class-in-the-making-robert-dorschel/b207a34d1660255b
The Social Codes of Tech WorkersThe book identifies tech workers as a contradictory class formation, oscillating between a spirit of emancipation and yet another spirit of capitalism.
The oscillation is a degree of freedom allowing tech workers to take up or avoid solidarity-oriented perspectives as convenient. There's lots of space for bad actors.
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@baldur sorry to nitpick, but by "emphasise" did you perhaps mean "empathise"?
@geraldew Thanks! Edited.
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@baldur@toot.cafe I listened to an interview with Robert Dorschel, the author of this book, and found it illuminating: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-social-codes-of-tech-workers-a-contradictory-middle-class-in-the-making-robert-dorschel/b207a34d1660255b
The Social Codes of Tech WorkersThe book identifies tech workers as a contradictory class formation, oscillating between a spirit of emancipation and yet another spirit of capitalism.
The oscillation is a degree of freedom allowing tech workers to take up or avoid solidarity-oriented perspectives as convenient. There's lots of space for bad actors.@abucci That’s interesting, thanks. I hadn’t come across that book before.
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The class solidarity argument has been a part of “AI” discourse in many fields for a while now. It doesn’t settle the debate but it’s a rationale many will acknowledge even if they disagree
Except in coding. Mention it to software devs and most will look at you as if you just spoke in tongues
@baldur Game devs seem to be breaking that mold. But yeah, I mentioned unions on a meetup once, it didn’t go well.
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@iain@kolektiva.social @baldur@toot.cafe Ugh, yes. It's slightly less expensive at MIT Press, but still pricey. I wish these academic books were more accessible. It's possible your library has it or could be convinced to order it.
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@iain@kolektiva.social @baldur@toot.cafe I forgot to share the interview, which is free (modulo some skippable ads): https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-social-codes-of-tech-workers
You can get a decent sense of what he's arguing in the book from this interview.
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This is a long-standing characteristic of the field and it explains a lot of what’s been going on in tech. If you can’t even empathise with people doing the same job as you—that share your circumstances—what are the chances of you caring about the end user or the effects of your work on society?
@baldur I'm reading Scott's "Seeing Like a State" and the chapter on the agricultural collectivisation after the Russian revolution made me think about how Lenins attitude towards the peasants are similar to many software architects' attitudes towards users (and developers for that matter).
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
