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0 pointstravisb22h ago0 comments

I think a lot of the cost comparisons to employees are off by a factor of 2 or more. AI is the ultimate contractor. Available instantly. Doesn't charge during idle periods. Pre-vetted and pre-trained. No contract negotiations or complex accounting.

That is worth a small multiple of the fully-loaded employee cost. So AI might be easily worth more than $200 per human-equivalent hour. With high utilization, that might be $8000-10000 a month.

With that kind of spend, AI provider financials looks less frightening.

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4 comments · 2 top-level

lbreakjai15h ago· 1 in thread

AI is more like a union that controls the entire labour pool. I'm one out of a few million developers. I've got very limited bargaining power. I can't withdraw my labour because I need it to make rent and buy food. My cost has a very predictable ceiling.

On the other hand, there's two AI labs, that could afford to eat your profit, because what are you gonna do? They're your entire labour force.

bluGill15h ago

There are more than two options. The others are not as good, but depending on who you believe they might be good enough.

ilovecake198416h ago· 1 in thread

Agree. But if that’s the thinking then you need to compare vs off shore contract rates, not on shore contract rates.

travisbOP45m ago

Off-shore isn't available on the same schedule.

My AIntern is available the moment I start my day (not normal for off-shore in a different time zone) _and_ is available after the end of my day when I want it to work after I've gone home (useful for work using scarce resources). It even keeps the context across that time span.

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