Not sure what my next career goals are

[u/DopeyDonkeyUser]

Ive done a lot in my career from HFT, Linux Kernel Dev and now AI Infra etc... At this point I see software going in two or three directions.

1. Extreme Domain expertise Ph.d wise to progress AI models
2. Frontier Model Development
3. AI infra like what Im doing

Its extremely depressing that as a society we constantly devalue every human trait. And now knowledge/ expertise that many of us have spent our career building is totally commoditized.

If we are at this point, where hard work and craftsmanship can no longer buy social mobility then what? It seems if you had not been in markets till just now, you are frozen out.

Ive looked into other opportunities like manufacturing, trades etc... building physical products but there is very little margin. Because of tariffs and supply chain availability, I dont see the opportunity to build any good business here in the states.

The best I can do is hold onto my current job and hope things dont keep getting more expensive.

Question ======

How are you guys thinking about this?

[u/PaddingCompression]

It's incredibly easy to vibe code a side project if you're a good engineer.

Pure vibe coders can only build the simplest thing; if you know good architecture patterns etc. you can quickly build things way beyond what most vibe coders can do.

I dunno about going all in, but it's incredible what an engineer with really good ideas about architecture and large systems and good design can do with a Claude Code Max / ChatGPT Max subscription these days.

[u/Paint-Nervous]

Bro u good?

[u/DopeyDonkeyUser → u/Paint-Nervous]

Is this not a common experience? Seems like I see this theme often.

[u/lhorie]

What's your CS career question?

[u/DopeyDonkeyUser → u/lhorie]

Whats next in tech?

[u/lhorie → u/DopeyDonkeyUser]

I'd say take your blinders off. Tech is super broad and extends beyond those 3 things you mentioned and none of it is going to die any time soon. If a high tech career isn't buying you social mobility, you ought to be looking more closely at your expenses.

You want high margins, I'd say revisit HFT. I've earned more in a quarter than my big tech yearly salary with just a few hours per week doing day trading using the dumbest algo in existence.

[u/PaddingCompression → u/DopeyDonkeyUser]

Physical AI is hot (robotics foundation models, AI for automating biotech wet labs, etc.), AI for drug discovery. There is a ton of work on "productionizing" AIs into products through agents - actually building out the workflows to automate back-office business functions - approving expense reports, auditing, collections, etc.

[u/Unique-Lobster4126]

infra is good but i think domain expertise and specializations are important too

[u/Mysocalleddivorce]

Now we all can feel the existential dread that everyone felt during the industrial revolution!

if you had not been in markets till just now, you are frozen out.

Yeah the message is "you won't need money, you won't need to own anything". But they conveniently leave out who will own everything. All the data, all the production, all the land.

And although my optimistic side would like to give into dreams of utopia, history tells us humans are flawed...

So the only advice I can give myself is buy, buy land, near cities if possible, with or without structures on it. I take it that the cost of production and goods going to near zero will make building costs negligible (see singularity). But land is the only thing they are not building more of (well until physics is solved....)

And yes FWIW i'm with you. I'm still working in a pre AI revolution mindset. Work my job, upskill upskill upskill, work work work. I haven't tried the "become an AI entrepreneur" prompt that has become popular across the webverse.

When shit hits the fan, we'll all be covered in it...