Rob Whelan

robw on 🦋. Sr Eng Mgr @ grafana; AI/ML. Tweets my own. He/him.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

Hey friends, I built this little site to help anyone managing engineers to run 1-on-1s: https://t.co/Bcss56O6C6
(or to help engineers better understand what their managers are doing, or could be doing)

Feedback welcome; hope this helps!

Wish I could share my notes with past-me.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@GergelyOrosz OpenAI is dealing with lawsuits from users who overdosed, committed suicide, etc based on ChatGPT advice; LLM-powered zero-days are rising.

But in this thread people are equating "ethical" with "zero limitations on customer use"

Uh.

(Though sure, complain what they mess up)

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@GergelyOrosz Do you have links to where orgs are being affected by the Fable limitations, or the other customer-hostile choices you're talking about?

We work pretty extensively with Anthropic (though we're not locked in; that's just sensible)

but we're not feeling any of this pain.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@GergelyOrosz @dtk4723 There seem to be lots of bot replies, including identical responses from different "people" in places

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@mbzlevie @GergelyOrosz The reason a lot of countries have laws to require you to e.g. review if they can be retrained & moved to more valuable work is exactly this.

Treating people like machine parts is short-sighted, disrupts lives, has painful consequences for society

but it's easiest for a few.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@NoniMadriz @NoblestCalling @owroot The goal of parenting is to gradually prepare them to do all of these things by themselves, without any permanent damage along the way (minor disasters are okay).

I've always taught my kids (now teens) to respect fire, knives, etc AND shown them how to use them safely. It works.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@bbirdbPhD @Wildaclarkes "hot water bottle" like this kind of rubber thing

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@bbirdbPhD @Wildaclarkes The humble hot water bottle is pretty great; no clue why they mostly vanished in the US

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@AbtMetal66028 @Aella_Girl The void is filled with some combo of building deep relationships and bringing value & insight to the world

If you're partying & making real connections, or bonding over trinkets, sure; if not, maybe do less of that.

If you want raising kids & religion as your life, sure.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@Dan03292062 @TheLaurenChen Shrug.
It feels like a blazingly obvious better approach, living here. When I visit family back in the US it seems like people just don't realize how much of a difference it makes, just because they don't have an option to try.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@sergeykarayev I don't understand the jump from validation that these tools are valuable to... AGI

None of these people are stepping back from directing the tools

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@gustorresq @diorvijane Nah. Think about it.

1. She's *not* playing that game, just wants to go on with her day, but you're getting insistent/ forceful... ugh, nightmare with no winners

2. She *is* playing a game... and you encourage it; why?? Let her miss out and learn.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@levelsio I guess this is part of "owning the libs" and it's somehow winning in some obscure way

It's vile, though

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@levelsio Imagine if everything you said — no matter how articulate, backed up by your experience & expertise — was just ignored

in favor of vague musings on your body language & your sex.

They conclude that you're just hot for the person you loathe. They do not touch the actual points.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@teachthemx3 Part of this that makes sense — the student screwed up, and now has extra work to learn the material, retake tests, catch up on work missed, etc.

But the teacher was ringing the alarm from the start; where were the counselor & parents then? The teacher is very poorly supported.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@TheDomsMom @AnnMacinerney @G3neralG3nius @JamesTate121 Quite possibly; "here's my thought on a complex issue, in just a snippet of text mixed in with everyone else's snippets" is not a recipe for good communication.

Same, have a good day.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@TheDomsMom @AnnMacinerney @G3neralG3nius @JamesTate121 No, you have to go through a years-long process, prove you have a married life together, all these things.

Yes, getting married "works", but it's not quick or easy.

These are real people's lives, not a joke.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@jimnasyum @kristoph @Grady_Booch As you said, they are not succeeding — so we have a new pitfall for junior software engineers, and that makes it more clear that we still do need engineers who understand what they're creating — now with more automation & guidance.

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@WajahatAli The post you are sharing is not even visible in the UK or EU

[Rob Whelan @jtheory]

@KellerZoe @ylecun He's there, but not actively posting since a month ago
https://t.co/6suUlFYZHE