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0 pointsbonesss3d ago0 comments

I’m an LLM enjoyer who also thinks that ‘er ‘jerbs are safe and, taken to their logical conclusion, most LLM-stroking online around coding reduces to an argument that we should be speaking Haskell to LLMs and also in specs and documentation (just kidding, OCaml is prettier). But also, I do a little business.

You’ve hit the real issue, IT management is D-tier and lacks self awareness. “Agile” is effed up as a rule, while also being the simplest business process ever.

That juniors and fakers are whole hog on LLMs is understandable to me. Hype, fashion, and BS are always potent. The part I still cannot understand, as an Executive in spirit: when there is a production issue, and one of these vibes monkeys you are paying has to fix it, how could you watch them copy and paste logs into a service you’re top dollar paying for, over and over, with no idea of what they’re doing, and also not be on your way to jail for highly defensible manslaughter?

We don’t pay mechanics to Google “how to fix car”.

0 comments

smileysteve3d ago

This is definitely ¾ of what you pay a mechanic to do; 1 publisher writes a maintenance manual for a car; mechanics all around the globe can use that to work on that specific car.

It's the mechanics that don't reference Google or the Haynes manual that are more likely to get it incorrect.

As a kicker, mechanics also have a pricing book for the task, they know how many hours a task will take on a certain car (rounded up for the most part).

voxl3d ago

You are not responding faithfully to the comment. A mechanic looking up the schematics in a manual understands them. Just because they haven't memorized the material does not make it the same. This is more analogous to looking up a function in the documentation that you forgot about.

This is clearly not what the post was referring to, which is instead like googling how to fix a pipe in your home when you've never done any plumbing before in your life. Can it work out? Sure, depends on the issue, can you cause your pipes to freeze, your house to flood, or sediment build up to completely block a pipe? Yes.

franktankbank2d ago

> mechanics also have a pricing book for the task, they know how many hours a task will take on a certain car

I do want to point out that this is used to suppress mechanic salary. Certain jobs are absolutely fucked how its time calibrated. Doesn't matter to business owner they can charge $$$ how they want.

20after43d ago

> We don’t pay mechanics to Google “how to fix car”.

No, instead of google they just look it up on alldata.

tyyyy33d ago

The more difficult it is to trace one’s labour to output.. expect more theatrics ;)

IAmBroom3d ago

With you up until the last sentence.

When I get my car fixed, I could not care less if they googled, used a service manual, or did it by "these old 2023's always had this problem right here...". I care if it is fixed.

And as I'm currently trying to fix something on my own, for financial reasons, I assure you a mechanic with training AND google can do a better job in 1/4th the time. Because I don't have the training.

Nor do the worst people using LLMs.

switchbak3d ago

But do you expect to pay top dollar to have someone pretend they know how to fix a car? That's the point here.

Granted, the trades is a bad example because it's chock full of fakers too.

jcgrillo3d ago

Speaking not as a professional mechanic, but as someone who maintains a car, two trucks, a tractor, a couple boats, and has googled quite a lot of torque specs in my time... If you're googling torque specs in 2026 you're gonna have a bad time. They're frequently just flat out wrong, especially the AI summaries ;). Use the authoritative source of truth--the shop manual published by the equipment manufacturer. Accept no substitutes.

mountain_peak3d ago

Absolutely - factory repair guides/apps are the only source of truth for official specs, although 3rd-party manuals are very good as well. That being said, I've often turned 3-hour estimated repairs into 15-minute jobs through clever shortcuts. For example, rotating an alternator to replace the run clutch through the gap in in the intake manifold as opposed to removing the complete intake manifold. I think that's where using experienced (and resourceful) developers pays off.

Also, for sale: BMW E60/61 Bentley 2-volume set. Barely used.

jcgrillo3d ago

Yeah Bentley (and in some cases Haynes) make good aftermarket manuals too. And you can find good information on some forums. But you can also find a lot of bad information. Reliably sifting the good from bad only comes with experience--much like in software.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

smileysteve3d ago

This is definitely ¾ of what you pay a mechanic to do; 1 publisher writes a maintenance manual for a car; mechanics all around the globe can use that to work on that specific car.

It's the mechanics that don't reference Google or the Haynes manual that are more likely to get it incorrect.

As a kicker, mechanics also have a pricing book for the task, they know how many hours a task will take on a certain car (rounded up for the most part).

voxl3d ago

franktankbank2d ago

> mechanics also have a pricing book for the task, they know how many hours a task will take on a certain car

I do want to point out that this is used to suppress mechanic salary. Certain jobs are absolutely fucked how its time calibrated. Doesn't matter to business owner they can charge $$$ how they want.

20after43d ago

> We don’t pay mechanics to Google “how to fix car”.

No, instead of google they just look it up on alldata.

tyyyy33d ago

The more difficult it is to trace one’s labour to output.. expect more theatrics ;)

IAmBroom3d ago

With you up until the last sentence.

When I get my car fixed, I could not care less if they googled, used a service manual, or did it by "these old 2023's always had this problem right here...". I care if it is fixed.

Nor do the worst people using LLMs.

switchbak3d ago

But do you expect to pay top dollar to have someone pretend they know how to fix a car? That's the point here.

Granted, the trades is a bad example because it's chock full of fakers too.

jcgrillo3d ago

mountain_peak3d ago

Also, for sale: BMW E60/61 Bentley 2-volume set. Barely used.

jcgrillo3d ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse