Alex Gude
@alexgude.com
Machine learning engineer in Silicon Valley! Formerly a particle physicist at CERN and alumni of Insight. He/Him
https://alexgude.com
@[email protected]
https://alexgude.com
@[email protected]
Pinned
Alex Gude
@alexgude.com
· 5d
The Darfsteller
The Darfsteller, by Walter M. Miller Jr., is a Hugo Award-winning novelette about the obsolescence of the human artist. It follows Ryan Thornier, a former stage idol reduced to working as a janitor in...
alexgude.com
Seventy years ago Walter M Miller Jr wrote how creative work would be the first thing we automate. The Darfsteller follows an actor replaced by robots, which are both cheaper and preferred by the audience.
It's more relevant than ever in the age of Gen AI.
alexgude.com/books/the_da...
#BookReview
It's more relevant than ever in the age of Gen AI.
alexgude.com/books/the_da...
#BookReview
Pretty sure LLMs code better than I do now.
And that's weird, because I've always been "the guy who cares more about code quality than the people around him".
I haven't felt a sense of loss over that yet. My main anxiety is, "Will I be employed in five years?"
And that's weird, because I've always been "the guy who cares more about code quality than the people around him".
I haven't felt a sense of loss over that yet. My main anxiety is, "Will I be employed in five years?"
For my part, seeing AI catch up to my abilities in several domains has been painful. I feel a sense of loss. And I’m in a position where I have (a tiny bit of) leverage and control over the process. I can only imagine how painful it would be if I felt like it were completely out of my hands
November 30, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Pretty sure LLMs code better than I do now.
And that's weird, because I've always been "the guy who cares more about code quality than the people around him".
I haven't felt a sense of loss over that yet. My main anxiety is, "Will I be employed in five years?"
And that's weird, because I've always been "the guy who cares more about code quality than the people around him".
I haven't felt a sense of loss over that yet. My main anxiety is, "Will I be employed in five years?"
Reposted by Alex Gude
For my part, seeing AI catch up to my abilities in several domains has been painful. I feel a sense of loss. And I’m in a position where I have (a tiny bit of) leverage and control over the process. I can only imagine how painful it would be if I felt like it were completely out of my hands
November 30, 2025 at 3:41 AM
For my part, seeing AI catch up to my abilities in several domains has been painful. I feel a sense of loss. And I’m in a position where I have (a tiny bit of) leverage and control over the process. I can only imagine how painful it would be if I felt like it were completely out of my hands
Reposted by Alex Gude
Reposted by Alex Gude
job losses to AI: Ben Garrison
November 30, 2025 at 5:13 PM
job losses to AI: Ben Garrison
Reposted by Alex Gude
He’s right! You don’t have to use it—but it’s going to sweep through codeworld like a purifying fire. You may not care! But it’s not like when it draws you a bad picture of a large-breasted elf. It’s more like it shreds the foundation of what makes tech “valuable.”
At the risk of starting the flame war to end all flame wars...
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
Modern LLMs (GPT-5.1, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3) produce excellent code and can be a significant productivity boost to software engineers who take the time to learn how to effectively apply them - especially if used with coding agent tools
November 29, 2025 at 9:53 PM
He’s right! You don’t have to use it—but it’s going to sweep through codeworld like a purifying fire. You may not care! But it’s not like when it draws you a bad picture of a large-breasted elf. It’s more like it shreds the foundation of what makes tech “valuable.”
Fine... I'll do it myself.
November 29, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Fine... I'll do it myself.
Reposted by Alex Gude
Almost every game is already using ai-assisted coding (and many studios have been quietly using ai assets for years), it would just be the California prop 65 warning you see on every single product
November 27, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Almost every game is already using ai-assisted coding (and many studios have been quietly using ai assets for years), it would just be the California prop 65 warning you see on every single product
I suspect this is part of why the MLEs at work are picking it up much faster than the SWEs:
We've been working with building useful systems using probabilistic blocks for a decade.
We've been working with building useful systems using probabilistic blocks for a decade.
Why (Senior) Engineers Struggle to Build AI Agents by Phil Schmid
It's because traditional software engineering is Deterministic while agent engineering is Probabilistic. The more senior the engineer, the less they tend to trust the reasoning and instruction-following capabilities of the Agent.
It's because traditional software engineering is Deterministic while agent engineering is Probabilistic. The more senior the engineer, the less they tend to trust the reasoning and instruction-following capabilities of the Agent.
November 27, 2025 at 6:28 PM
I suspect this is part of why the MLEs at work are picking it up much faster than the SWEs:
We've been working with building useful systems using probabilistic blocks for a decade.
We've been working with building useful systems using probabilistic blocks for a decade.
Reposted by Alex Gude
maybe a few days late but this is a great set of charts
October 29, 2025 at 2:49 PM
maybe a few days late but this is a great set of charts
Seventy years ago Walter M Miller Jr wrote how creative work would be the first thing we automate. The Darfsteller follows an actor replaced by robots, which are both cheaper and preferred by the audience.
It's more relevant than ever in the age of Gen AI.
alexgude.com/books/the_da...
#BookReview
It's more relevant than ever in the age of Gen AI.
alexgude.com/books/the_da...
#BookReview
The Darfsteller
The Darfsteller, by Walter M. Miller Jr., is a Hugo Award-winning novelette about the obsolescence of the human artist. It follows Ryan Thornier, a former stage idol reduced to working as a janitor in...
alexgude.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Seventy years ago Walter M Miller Jr wrote how creative work would be the first thing we automate. The Darfsteller follows an actor replaced by robots, which are both cheaper and preferred by the audience.
It's more relevant than ever in the age of Gen AI.
alexgude.com/books/the_da...
#BookReview
It's more relevant than ever in the age of Gen AI.
alexgude.com/books/the_da...
#BookReview
Reposted by Alex Gude
new, short blog post: vgel.me/posts/elven-...
November 26, 2025 at 12:49 AM
new, short blog post: vgel.me/posts/elven-...
Reposted by Alex Gude
I am tired of this Thanksgiving, these turkeys. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their pies.
November 25, 2025 at 11:26 PM
I am tired of this Thanksgiving, these turkeys. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their pies.
Reposted by Alex Gude
The problem with this article is they asked too many lawyers and not enough historians.
As a historian, I'd say the legality of Trump's immunity and pardons depends on how he leaves office.
At 40 over 55 approval? He's immune.
At 25 over 65? He's probably not immune & self-pardons aren't legal.
As a historian, I'd say the legality of Trump's immunity and pardons depends on how he leaves office.
At 40 over 55 approval? He's immune.
At 25 over 65? He's probably not immune & self-pardons aren't legal.
John Roberts has secured his place in history alongside Al Capone and Bernard Madoff. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
Opinion | Why Trump Won’t Face Prosecution This Time Around
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The problem with this article is they asked too many lawyers and not enough historians.
As a historian, I'd say the legality of Trump's immunity and pardons depends on how he leaves office.
At 40 over 55 approval? He's immune.
At 25 over 65? He's probably not immune & self-pardons aren't legal.
As a historian, I'd say the legality of Trump's immunity and pardons depends on how he leaves office.
At 40 over 55 approval? He's immune.
At 25 over 65? He's probably not immune & self-pardons aren't legal.
Pretty close to just going back to Gemini 2.5 Pro.
3 often ignores my system prompt or explicit instructions, but at other times because too fixed on them. A little hard to explain...
It's also completely misinterpreted simple instructions in ways I've never seen 2.5 do.
3 often ignores my system prompt or explicit instructions, but at other times because too fixed on them. A little hard to explain...
It's also completely misinterpreted simple instructions in ways I've never seen 2.5 do.
November 24, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Pretty close to just going back to Gemini 2.5 Pro.
3 often ignores my system prompt or explicit instructions, but at other times because too fixed on them. A little hard to explain...
It's also completely misinterpreted simple instructions in ways I've never seen 2.5 do.
3 often ignores my system prompt or explicit instructions, but at other times because too fixed on them. A little hard to explain...
It's also completely misinterpreted simple instructions in ways I've never seen 2.5 do.
QNTM's rewrite of There Is No Antimemetics Division is fantastic! It always had great ideas, but now the execution matches. Highly recommended if you haven't read it, and if you have, this is the definitive version.
alexgude.com/books/there_...
#BookReview
alexgude.com/books/there_...
#BookReview
There Is No Antimemetics Division
There Is No Antimemetics Division, by qntm, is a book about researchers trying to control dangerous antimemes—ideas that can’t be thought—and how you might combat a foe you can’t even remember exists.
alexgude.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:30 AM
QNTM's rewrite of There Is No Antimemetics Division is fantastic! It always had great ideas, but now the execution matches. Highly recommended if you haven't read it, and if you have, this is the definitive version.
alexgude.com/books/there_...
#BookReview
alexgude.com/books/there_...
#BookReview
Reposted by Alex Gude
I had a popular account with a valuable audience and my Twitter payout was $80 a month-ish, to the point where I disabled monetization instead of uploading my ID. Payouts are only material if you live in a developing country, so “guy in Nigeria posting right-wing Amerislop” has taken over the site.
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I had a popular account with a valuable audience and my Twitter payout was $80 a month-ish, to the point where I disabled monetization instead of uploading my ID. Payouts are only material if you live in a developing country, so “guy in Nigeria posting right-wing Amerislop” has taken over the site.
The Darfsteller is a really interesting story to read at this point in time...
It's an early sci-fi story about automating art, specifically stage actors. Resonates a lot with recent Gen AI advances and uses.
It's an early sci-fi story about automating art, specifically stage actors. Resonates a lot with recent Gen AI advances and uses.
November 23, 2025 at 2:12 AM
The Darfsteller is a really interesting story to read at this point in time...
It's an early sci-fi story about automating art, specifically stage actors. Resonates a lot with recent Gen AI advances and uses.
It's an early sci-fi story about automating art, specifically stage actors. Resonates a lot with recent Gen AI advances and uses.
I really enjoyed Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz. It does a great job balancing tone (from hilarious to soul crush dread), while weaving in Catholic theology. In that way it reminds me a lot of Wolfe's Book of the New Sun and Simmons's Hyperion.
alexgude.com/books/a_cant...
#BookReview
alexgude.com/books/a_cant...
#BookReview
A Canticle for Leibowitz
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr., is the first book in the Saint Leibowitz series. It is a fix-up novel consisting of three parts: Fiat Homo, Fiat Lux, and Fiat Voluntas Tua. The stor...
alexgude.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:27 PM
I really enjoyed Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz. It does a great job balancing tone (from hilarious to soul crush dread), while weaving in Catholic theology. In that way it reminds me a lot of Wolfe's Book of the New Sun and Simmons's Hyperion.
alexgude.com/books/a_cant...
#BookReview
alexgude.com/books/a_cant...
#BookReview
Reposted by Alex Gude
I refuse to let my chances of dying in a car crash stay higher to satisfy people’s reactionary technophobia
Waymos in every city
Spread the tech to all cars
Make human drivers rare
Waymos in every city
Spread the tech to all cars
Make human drivers rare
November 20, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I refuse to let my chances of dying in a car crash stay higher to satisfy people’s reactionary technophobia
Waymos in every city
Spread the tech to all cars
Make human drivers rare
Waymos in every city
Spread the tech to all cars
Make human drivers rare
In a moment of extreme irony and hilarity, Claude Code doesn't know how to properly edit it's own settings file, so it hallucinated it and broke it.
🤓
🤓
November 19, 2025 at 10:37 PM
In a moment of extreme irony and hilarity, Claude Code doesn't know how to properly edit it's own settings file, so it hallucinated it and broke it.
🤓
🤓
Reposted by Alex Gude
UC San Diego is discovering shocking grade inflation at many Cali high schools, to the point that a large minority of kids with a 4.0 average in math are at 6th grade or below in mathematical ability.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
senate.ucsd.edu
November 19, 2025 at 5:59 PM
UC San Diego is discovering shocking grade inflation at many Cali high schools, to the point that a large minority of kids with a 4.0 average in math are at 6th grade or below in mathematical ability.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
Oh damn I should try Gemini 3.0 on Shenzhen I/O.
2.5 Pro can almost but not quite solve it from a problem description and the manual.
2.5 Pro can almost but not quite solve it from a problem description and the manual.
November 19, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Oh damn I should try Gemini 3.0 on Shenzhen I/O.
2.5 Pro can almost but not quite solve it from a problem description and the manual.
2.5 Pro can almost but not quite solve it from a problem description and the manual.