Am I worried AI will take my job?
The author reflects on an early career experience where compilers out-optimized hand-tuned assembly, drawing parallels to current concerns about AI replacing jobs. The core message: machines always improve at the mechanical aspects, but human fascination and exploration remain irreplaceable.
People sometimes ask if I’m worried that AI will put me out of a job. My honest answer is no, not really.
In fact, I’ve been here before.
The first time the machine out-coded me.
When I graduated in the 90s, assembly language was still a respectable skill. I wrote most of my code in C, but there was always that one tight loop or fiddly routine where a bit of hand-tuned assembler felt like wizardry. I was working in embedded systems, targeting a single CPU and we wanted every cycle to count.
And then compilers got good. Really good. I’d write a neat little C function, run it through the compiler, and the generated assembly would do things I’d never have thought of. Loop unrolling, instruction scheduling, register allocation that felt like black magic.
That was the first time I realized a truth that keeps resurfacing in this industry.
The machine will always get better at the mechanical part of the job.
“Beauty or a beast, don’t know which I see. Still I couldn’t leave it Fascination won’t it cease”