However with all the news surrounding tech lately, mainly the advancement of AI, I've become somewhat discouraged about this whole field, and as I result I haven't been putting a lot of effort into my studies, to put it lightly. I'm barely getting passing grades. Over the previous spring and summer, before switching majors, I did a Web Dev bootcamp and I really enjoyed programming with the abomination that is JavaScript, but now I don't even like programming anymore.
I will not consider going back to my old major, since it's easily replaceable by AI.
I'm thinking of getting into agriculture (I have the necessary capital) and going down that line of work/self-employment (which I vastly prefer over being a salaried employee.)
Sure it can be physically demanding work (which I don't mind), but I don't see AI getting to that anytime soon (and to the extent that it's gotten into tech as we know it), and I have done that kind of work in the past and it's just inherently more fulfilling than staring into a computer screen, to me. Plus, it pays fine-ish and it can pay very well if, down the line, I open a food processing factory.
Any advice or thoughts you have to offer?
But it sounds like you already know your answer. You don't love programming, and you are interested in agriculture, including a vision for where that path can take you.
I get where you're coming from but degrees (or any other education) are kind of a necessity, a means to an end. Getting a degree to pursuit a certain career sounds completely reasonable to me. Of course its a bad idea if you hate the field, but you don't need to madly love it either.
Most people can’t afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars to get an “education for its own sake” and go to school so they can convince some entity with money to give them some of that money in exchange for labor. They can then take that money to exchange for goods and services.
Here's the funny thing, if you ask people who interact with chat bots in any given service industry (banks, online orders...etc) they'll tell you how bad these things are, there is just no replacement for actual human beings with real life intuition (this kind of AI break through hasn't happened yet).
For the time being if you take time to specialize in a domain knowledge skill (physics, math, economy, or even agriculture) you'll be able to use the skills you learn from your CS degree in that domain and prosper as a result.
Here is the thing about pursuing a degree, it is a tedious awful long task. It doesnt actually look like the actual job you'll be doing when you finish this degree.
I'll go against the common advice and say, stick to it, finish the degree because it will give you good social mobility (when trying to travel for work to any country in the world, you'll either need to be a specialist in your field with few years experience or have at minimum a bachelor degree).
I don't like being a salaried employee (nor do I plan to become one, long term), but I might just finish my degree because life happens and there may be a time when I'll have to search for a job like that one day. So, purely as a backup option and because the sheepskin effect is very real
If you don't like studying CS, then switch to something else. But if it does feel rewarding, then get your grades back up. Better to graduate and be good at something, even if you wind up doing something else with your life.
Ironically, there has always been more robots doing agriculture jobs than software jobs. But people do agriculture to escape the bots.
Software bots have often just created more software jobs. Agriculture robots have often just taken more farmhand jobs. Agriculture today is far, far more profitable than it used to be because of the bots. But people don't think the software bots are going to make software jobs profitable, even though all the automation thus far have pushed engineering salaries and demand up.
I think this because I had very similar thought patterns a decade ago when I was in college and considered dropping out. This was obviously long before AI, and I don’t have a degree in CS regardless.
So my advice is: just finish it. I also spent tons of time ruminating over the perfect degree situation, and ultimately you’ll realize that it’s kind of a waste of time. Just finish the degree and get a job you want to get. You’ll barely think about college at all 5-10 years after graduating.
I agree though, don't overthink the degree unless you need a specific accreditation like ABET or something medical.
Automation and AI use in these respects contributes to a far greater problem, the socialist calculation problem.
If you want to go a route that requires a bachelors degree, get it in whatever you find interesting. If you want to be self employed, or to work for an employer that doesn't care about the degree, then don't get one.
I don't know if by "getting into agriculture" you mean running a farm itself, or if the farmers would be your customers, and I don't know if the situation is different in Europe, but in the US, running a farm is almost never profitable, even with government subsidies, but selling equipment and services to farmer can be very profitable.
I was thinking of getting into growing crops. My parents are in that field, and even though they have a lot of work, and stress associated with the work, they're pretty well-off. A big positive to their work is that during these colder months, they have nearly no work, so lots of free time to recuperate and do whatever else they want. So, for whatever reason, unlike the US, it seems to be decently profitable here
Also, if I do go down this road, I was thinking of starting an egg farm on the side as well for extra cash, particularly during winter when there's no work in the fields
I'm not against the idea of selling services and/or equipment, but for my local area and for the time being, I don't think I'd be able to sustain myself just by doing that, i.e there's not a lot of demand to justify the costs of running that kind of an operation, from a cursory look
Im tired of repeating this over and over but there is no real “i” in current AI.
It’s nothing but a fancy advanced auto complete in the hands of a good software engineer (and even that is half the time bad and requires skills and experience).
If your goal is to become an engineer - you’re safe in any predictable future.
Because there is not yet developed even a theory of anything that is capable of actually solving any meaningful engineering challenges
The entry level tasks are tasks that are supervised by the mid to senior level people for correctness. Institutional knowledge and skills are passed on in these positions.
The tasks while simple, can be very easily solved in most cases at this level by AI. AI can easily replace these positions instead of having people.
In effect though, it removes any new people from entering that developmental pipeline. In so doing you remove the demand for such people lowering ROI, and create an economic incentive to not develop new people in that area, and this applies to everywhere that AI touches.
In the 3-year shelf life the business benefits from the reduction of labor costs.
The company can persist for a time thanks to financial engineering, but within 5-10 years, costs explode, demand for the mid to senior positions explodes because the pool of labor shrinks as people age out and die.
AI cannot replace the mid to senior people, but that won't matter. It is sufficient for failure to occur simply by preventing new labor from entering the market. It will also be too late to develop people at the time people realize this.
The problem isn't in solving meaningful engineering challenges. Its with developing the basic skills needed to do that in the first place. You aren't expected to solve meaningful engineering challenges in an entry level position.
The danger isn't in AI taking over all of our jobs. The danger is in cutting the development pipeline off in such a way that cascading failures lead to cascading production failures. Like a dam break or avalanche, once triggered.
Most business people don't consider consequences longer than a 1-3 year period. Short term gains are always taken with long term losses locked in. Thats just part of the nature of fiat based inflationary economies. No effort or thought is given towards existential threats, without a corresponding loss of life.
Safety rules are written in blood.
Is there software to build? Yes. Do LLMs replace software engineers? No. Will they ever? No. They are pattern extraction machines, nothing more.
While AI cannot replace some aspects of a CS degree, AI can and does replace the entry level position tasks quite easily in most white collar work. There will be no industry unimpacted long term.
Agriculture seems like a good bet until you actually spend some time on a farm with people who work in the business. Many farms operations are financed, and having setbacks amounts to owing debt if the circumstances like climate change impact you.
With agriculture you also have additional cost mainly related to government regulation for safety, and costs from monopolies on repairs for specific equipment you need to do your job. Like what's happening with John Deere.
Its not nearly as free to market as you seem to think it is. Soil conservation efforts where the government subsidizes you to not grow anything have been a thing in the past, to raise the price on certain goods, and there is always the risk that in an unforeseen emergency that your production is seized.
They haven't done it to date (afaik), but the laws are in place, in many localities, so they can do this.
Being a code monkey is definitely a dead end job.
You might look into vocational training, maybe retrain in a trade like plumbing, hvac, pool maintenance, welding, etc. Its doubtful that AI will take over these jobs.
Something where you develop useful skills.
I'm from a European, but non-EU country and I used to study law before this, and no such regulation exists here, as far as I know, so I'm good there
Also, my parents do agriculture work so I know a few things about it, having helped them with their work
>You might look into vocational training, maybe retrain in a trade like plumbing, hvac, pool maintenance, welding, etc. Its doubtful that AI will take over these jobs.
I know how to weld, but poorly. I can always get better though, so it's not a big challenge for me
I would say as far as degrees go that are worth it still even if you hate it, CS is at the very bottom of that list. It is not something you should go into and do just for the money, and it's especially something you shouldn't do if you hate it.
It can be one of the most lucrative fields to get into if you enjoy roughly 60% of it. Any less than that, and it can be one of the most useless things for you to get into.
Going to school for some kind of focused finance or business degree (notice I said focused) could be much better for you (along with getting into agriculture as you're thinking of doing).
You seem super excited about going into agriculture. Ag-Tech is a growing industry that will require engineers, especially as our climate changes. Having practical experience will make you competitive!
Once your age window is over so is your chance to get your degree. Whether you need it or not. And when you are older you will thank your younger self that you did it. Or you will regret you dropped. Most likely you will not regret having it.
Don't let temporary emotional cloud or fears changing your life trajectory.
Based on what little I know, in Europe you need a degree in order to get good jobs. But employment opportunities for CS graduates might change in the future. You really need to do research into this in your country/city - unless you are planning to relocate.
Since you prefer self-employment, why not simply research more deeply into the areas of agriculture that you are attracted to? Once you better understand the constraints, you will be in a better position to assess whether a CS degree, or any other degree for that matter, will be of benefit.
The market for software developers is already saturated and it’s going to take years for it to balance out.
Apply the 'CS' to reduce the demanding agriculture factors (which sounds more agriculture/mechanical related degree)
You can be in the field and get your hands dirty with engineering.
