Another morning, another tech executive telling us plebs how to live our lives. This time it’s Google’s head of research Yossi Matias, spouting wisdom between sips of whatever overpriced cold brew they serve in their Chelsea office. The message? “Everyone should learn to code!” Sure, buddy. Pour me another bourbon while I break this down.
Here’s the deal: Matias is pushing the same tired “learn to code” mantra that’s been floating around since I was still sober enough to remember my passwords. But here’s what’s rich - he’s doing it while his own CEO admits that 25% of their code is now written by AI. That’s like a bartender telling you to learn mixology while installing self-serving beer taps.
The real gem in this corporate word salad is when Matias compares coding to math. “You need to understand what’s going on there,” he says. Yeah, and I need to understand why my head hurts every morning, but that doesn’t stop it from happening. The truth is, while he’s preaching about fundamentals, GitHub Copilot is out there cutting coding time by 70%. Let that sink in like a bad whiskey.
But wait, there’s more entertainment. Matias acknowledges that junior developers are facing “some challenges” in getting “the experience they want.” No shit. That’s corporate speak for “entry-level jobs are evaporating faster than ice cubes in Death Valley.” But don’t worry, Google’s got some “initiatives” to help. Probably involving more AI that’ll eventually replace the very people they’re pretending to help.
The kicker? Matias is rolling out the classic “AI will boost every field” routine. Healthcare, biology, chemistry - you name it, AI’s going to revolutionize it. He’s particularly proud of their flood forecasting models. Meanwhile, junior developers are watching their career prospects flood away faster than my liquor cabinet during tax season.
Look, I’m not saying learning to code is useless. But let’s cut the crap. The game is changing faster than bar rules during COVID. These executives can preach about fundamentals all they want, but when AI is chomping away at entry-level positions like bar nuts at happy hour, maybe we need a different conversation.
Here’s what they’re not telling you: The real skill isn’t just coding anymore. It’s knowing how to dance with the AI - how to prompt it, debug it, and most importantly, know when to tell it to shut up and let a human take the wheel. But that doesn’t make for such a neat little corporate soundbite, does it?
And while Matias talks about AI making education more “effective and engaging” with interactive quizzes, I can’t help but wonder if we’re all just taking one big multiple-choice test: adapt or die, upgrade or get out, learn to prompt or learn to pray.
So sure, learn to code if you want. But maybe learn to read between the lines too. Because while these tech bigwigs are telling you to master the basics, they’re building systems that master everything else.
Now if you’ll excuse me, my glass is empty and these thoughts about the future are making me thirsty.
Signing off from the only place that makes sense in this AI world - the corner of my local bar, where at least the bourbon is still analog.