How I keep up with AI progress

Article does not make the case for why you must keep up.

AFAICT the best strategy would have been to completely tune out AI for the last ~3 years:

- AI has not meaningfully improved productivity (unless you’re doing something super basic like react and were already bad at it). If you are using AI in a transformative way, that looks different today than it did 6 months ago. - AI has not stolen jobs (end of ZIRP did that) - The field changes so fast that you could completely tune out, and at any moment become up-to-date because the news from 3 months ago is irrelevant.

I don’t get where this meme that “you have to keep up” comes from.

You have agency. You can get off the treadmill. You will be fine.

I have been tuning out for the last ~3 years and unfortunately it hasn't been the best strategy because the hype is still running roughshod all over me

It is very likely my employer will use my AI apathy as an excuse to include me in the next round of layoffs, compared to my coworkers that are very AI enthusiastic

Maybe that would even be justified, if you are a software developer? If not now, at least soon.

Imagine a software developer who refuses to use IDEs, or any kind of editor beyond sed, or version control, or some other essential tool. AI is soon similar, except in rare niche cases.