<![CDATA[I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year.]]>I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. And it's acknowledged that the system misbehaves, needs to be monitored closely like a junior engineer, etc.

So why not hire some junior engineers if you're an org that has that equivalent cash to spend? Companies that are in such a position: you've never had a better market chance to get a sweet deal on young talent

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/ecf277b2-1e8d-4d84-9291-113fecb4c129/i-have-a-friend-who-has-a-budget-where-she-spends-as-much-individually-on-ai-as-a-service-tokens-as-i-make-in-a-year.RSS for NodeFri, 17 Apr 2026 21:27:44 GMTFri, 17 Apr 2026 15:07:57 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:57:48 GMT]]>@cwebber
They lie that they cannot find the talent

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/tadbithuman/statuses/116421104000721114https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/tadbithuman/statuses/116421104000721114Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:57:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:44:51 GMT]]>@cwebber sooo they don't have to pay into and can shift that burden to you instead

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/i_give_u_worms/statuses/116421053085763227https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/i_give_u_worms/statuses/116421053085763227Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:44:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:43:58 GMT]]>@cwebber ai cant unionize

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sunbeam.city/users/squeakypancakes/statuses/116421049627484110https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sunbeam.city/users/squeakypancakes/statuses/116421049627484110Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:43:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:40:54 GMT]]>@cwebber it's not rational spending, but irrational resentment. Corpos resent employees with the energy of a thousand suns. They see every work-life accommodation as a conspiracy to steal their god given right to profit margins and every paycheck as a defeat.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gal/users/elrohir/statuses/116421037535605743https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gal/users/elrohir/statuses/116421037535605743Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:40:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:19:29 GMT]]>@cwebber Tokens don't unionize

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/a2_4am/statuses/116420953342363308https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/a2_4am/statuses/116420953342363308Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:19:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:16:36 GMT]]>@cwebber

AI isn't funded by the fossil fuel industry for its revenue or ROI (return on investment).

AI initiatives exist to launder fossil fuel money for corrupt petrostate despots.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/technology/saudi-arabia-ai-exporter.html

AI initiatives exist to burn more fossil fuel, wastefully.
https://www.wired.com/story/trump-energy-industry-ai-fossil-fuels-pittsburgh-summit/

There's also the chokepoint capitalism, electricity rate surge, state surveillance, election meddling, wage suppression, price fixing, predatory pricing, rent fixing, & automated warfare.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Npars01/statuses/116420941974858259https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Npars01/statuses/116420941974858259Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:16:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:13:26 GMT]]>@n1xnx @cwebber Actually that is somewhat debatable. The models do accept training and do by definition learn. Do they learn like humans? Probably not.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://thecanadian.social/users/mike/statuses/116420929513322659https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://thecanadian.social/users/mike/statuses/116420929513322659Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:13:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:11:35 GMT]]>@mike @cwebber
Of course, the OTHER thing AI doesn't do is learn from its mistakes (that humans had to clean up after).

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tilde.zone/users/n1xnx/statuses/116420922269961030https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tilde.zone/users/n1xnx/statuses/116420922269961030Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:11:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:01:00 GMT]]>@cargot_robbie @cwebber Fair point

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://thecanadian.social/users/mike/statuses/116420880691606221https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://thecanadian.social/users/mike/statuses/116420880691606221Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:01:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:00:01 GMT]]>@mike Is it true that AI won't require a raise every year? I wouldn't be surprised that executives would think that, but it seems like token price inflation would be a lot harder for companies to mitigate than it has been for them to suppress wages. AI has the whole multi-billion dollar company apparatus behind it, most employees are lucky if they can afford an employment lawyer to read their contracts.

@cwebber

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://urbanists.social/users/cargot_robbie/statuses/116420876789721132https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://urbanists.social/users/cargot_robbie/statuses/116420876789721132Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:00:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:46:17 GMT]]>@cwebber i bet that's completely sustainable and will last forever

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/aeva/statuses/116420822814962467https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/aeva/statuses/116420822814962467Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:46:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:44:14 GMT]]>@kyonshi @cwebber
It is 100% this. This is why corporate leaders love AI: they resent having employees.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.nu/users/Gurre/statuses/116420814739392994https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.nu/users/Gurre/statuses/116420814739392994Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:44:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:44:08 GMT]]>@dukeboitans @jalefkowit @cwebber no you need to understand, the genius is that taxpayer money the AI companies get is partially spent to line the pockets of the people deciding on subsidies. they can keep that up for as long as it takes

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://dice.camp/users/kyonshi/statuses/116420814356016475https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://dice.camp/users/kyonshi/statuses/116420814356016475Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:44:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:41:41 GMT]]>@cwebber because that would mean spending money on wages and companies are forbidden by their religion to do so

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://dice.camp/users/kyonshi/statuses/116420804710198095https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://dice.camp/users/kyonshi/statuses/116420804710198095Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:41:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:39:22 GMT]]>@cwebber I think you know the answer here, because it's not that they're paying for code to be produced; the CTO is paying for bragging rights so he can proudly trumpet their adoption numbers to anyone within earshot at all the cool CTO parties he goes to

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hey.hagelb.org/users/technomancy/statuses/01KPE1HHNVRF9SWN1C3YQZC9ZKhttps://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hey.hagelb.org/users/technomancy/statuses/01KPE1HHNVRF9SWN1C3YQZC9ZKFri, 17 Apr 2026 15:39:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:34:14 GMT]]>@cwebber I'm not advocating replacing humans but I think the business case would be that an AI doesn't sleep, eat, take breaks, get sick, go on holiday or require a raise every year. Also an employer pays more than your salary, the line item for a human resource is salary plus payroll tax, and benefits. so it's usually your gross salary plus 30%.
I really do get where you're coming from though. AI should be a force multiplier not an excuse to layoff staff.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://thecanadian.social/users/mike/statuses/116420775398368210https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://thecanadian.social/users/mike/statuses/116420775398368210Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:34:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:29:30 GMT]]>@jalefkowit @cwebber Isn't AI-as-a-service heavily subsidised at the moment though? This can't go on forever.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/dukeboitans/statuses/116420756797534796https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/dukeboitans/statuses/116420756797534796Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:29:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:27:56 GMT]]>@dvshkn @cwebber I mean, we know the "why" here, and it's of course ghoulish.

To say what I'm sure is understood, a FTE's cost to a company is not measured by salary or benefits alone. And therein lies the value proposition for the corpos—assuming they haven't also bought into the propaganda about the models' capabilities, in which case they not only believe they are cheaper than you, but better.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/mttaggart/statuses/116420750640280547https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/mttaggart/statuses/116420750640280547Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:27:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:24:46 GMT]]>@cwebber This is one of the key thresholds I've been waiting for, when per head token spend reaches parity with engineer salary. Sounds like we're about there.

It's also been my best guess for when we might start seeing a bit more self-reflection of what we're doing. Or I'm wrong and we'll blow past it.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.treehouse.systems/users/dvshkn/statuses/116420738175676985https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.treehouse.systems/users/dvshkn/statuses/116420738175676985Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:24:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:20:59 GMT]]>@cwebber Not a problem. Senior engineers spring fully formed from the thigh of Zeus

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://vmst.io/users/jalefkowit/statuses/116420723283229902https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://vmst.io/users/jalefkowit/statuses/116420723283229902Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:20:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:17:39 GMT]]>@cwebber Yes! this! 100% this. The junior will at least build up institutional and domain knowledge and get better every year & can use their own 🧠 to help guide choices instead of blindly doing what's asked even if it'll make things worse.

PLUS you get to feel good about giving someone insurance and a house and food.

there's NO downside.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://connectified.com/users/masukomi/statuses/116420710183983757https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://connectified.com/users/masukomi/statuses/116420710183983757Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:17:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:16:39 GMT]]>@jalefkowit @cwebber At least until the market consolidation sets in, at which point companies will realize that hooo boy rebuilding a talent pipeline from scratch is EXPENSIVE

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaos.social/users/slothrop/statuses/116420706243796886https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaos.social/users/slothrop/statuses/116420706243796886Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:16:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:15:07 GMT]]>@jalefkowit But right now the story is also "we need senior engineers to monitor the AIs"

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.coop/users/cwebber/statuses/116420700216960993https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.coop/users/cwebber/statuses/116420700216960993Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:15:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have a friend who has a budget where she spends as much individually on AI-as-a-service tokens as I make in a year. on Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:14:07 GMT]]>@cwebber From management’s perspective, the problem with cheap junior engineers is that they eventually become less cheap senior engineers. Whereas the AI will be a cheap junior engineer forever

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://vmst.io/users/jalefkowit/statuses/116420696342251790https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://vmst.io/users/jalefkowit/statuses/116420696342251790Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:14:07 GMT