this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
143 points (92.8% liked)
Programming Circlejerk
299 readers
1 users here now
Community to talk about enlightened programming takes
Rules:
- read and follow the programming.dev code of conduct
- no flamewars
- mark your unjerks
- only programming related content allowed
- link to the original source
- do not mention this community in places like hackernews, lobste.rs, or the general programming communities on Lemmy where we source jerk material from.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
And everyone promotes them for tasks they aren't experts in.
Managers think they could replace devs, but never a manager.
Devs think they could replace management but never a senior developer.
Storyboard drawers think they can write screenplays. Screenplay writers think they can draw storyboards. Etc.
As an expert, you know how shit AI is in your own field, but surely those other jobs are simple enough to be replaced.
Let's be honest, though: they absolutely could replace management.
A good manager is both a coordinator and a filter. They deal with bs rolling down from above and keep their team running efficiently.
A good manager is worth their weight in gold. A bad manager isn't worth their weight in bullshit.
Yeah, our PM is great. Our previous one not so much.
He trusts us but also handles absolutely loads of stuff that we don't want to deal with.
I've also enjoyed the term "shit umbrella" for a good manager.
It's very easy to replace something that was never critical to the process in the first place. My manager essentially updates my git tickets with what I did. We talk for 5 minutes a week. He just kinda lets me do my thing, I am fully aware of how lucky I am.
some management, sure. just like some of your coworkers could probably be replaced by AI. but not the competent ones, and not the essential ones.
and personally, I'd still rather work with an incompetent person who can improve than four incompetent chatbots
although I'd rather work with no incompetence at all
The principal task of a competent manager is, primarily, intervening between incompetent upper managers and actual workers. Replacing the incompetent manager removes the need for the competent one.
90% of my experience with management is having none at all would be a net benefit
why would we want to add ai to that mix
At least they’d be pleasant while being useless? I’ve had managers that were egomaniacal terrors.
problem is ai would be another layer of separation from decisions and consequences
I thought "egomaniacal terror" was part of the job description.