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Mike Bithell
@mikebithell.bsky.social

Deskilling as a phenomenon should be taken seriously. It’s something all of us do. I used to be a cocktail waiter, but now have to google basic recipes. The worrying aspect is how many are now deskilling while those skills are still actively useful. This is folks opting into skill rental.

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178 reposts499 likes

Nope
@the-false-prophet.bsky.social

Because I'm part of a pilot AI assessment, I've already sectioned off my Fridays for "Robot coding" with a plan to burn as many tokens as possible The rest of the week I'm hands on, but yeah I can absolutely see skills wither on the vine I've rejected more PRs in the last year than in the prior ten

Nope
@the-false-prophet.bsky.social

PR = merging code for release, just for clarity AI brain drain is going to be massive.. and there is a huge risk that isn't being taken seriously - if you don't have Juniors, who is going to become your seniors a decade down the line? I'm going to make out like a bandit fixing vibe nonsense

Nope
@the-false-prophet.bsky.social

I've said since the first iPhone that making tech too accessible is a bad idea. There needs to be a level of technical competence to use devices. User infantilisation was the genesis of this, and AI is just finishing the job

SnowOrShine
@snoworshine.bsky.social

I've worked with a game studio who are big into AI, and the stuff I've seen them do is honestly wild My first experience working with one of their designers, talking about how to solve an implementation issue was "I'll ask our AI" Nothing learned

George "Clay" M
@gclaymitchell4th.bsky.social

As a writer with ADHD (that may be redundant), I use AI to help with mundane tasks. I, too, was concerned about an over-reliance, so I started to do more manual writing (pencil to paper) instead of typing all the time. I have found that doing manual writing has opened me up even more creatively. 1/

George "Clay" M
@gclaymitchell4th.bsky.social

I've told my other writing friends they need to get off the keyboard and start doing more pen to paper. I totally agree that even an over-reliance on computer tech to do writing or art will stiffle the creative process. 2/2

Mike Bithell
@mikebithell.bsky.social

Outside of the obvs ethical and environmental concerns, a fear of deskilling and/or building an unecessary dependency into your workflow is a very reasonable reason to opt out of generative ai use.

Laughing Fox
@psj885.bsky.social

Is there a games industry accepted equivalent of continued professional development portfolios? Attending/presenting at conferences, mentoring, research etc. Would unions or other groups mandating CPD to be a member / contributor help the situation?

Neth Naala
@nethnaala.bsky.social

Agreed while there could be some benefits from the use of AI, it comes with a human mental cost as well (among many other human costs). Hopefully we can find that balance.

Tim
@redsquirreltim.bsky.social

It genuinely concerns me that if things keep going as they are, we're going to have kids coming out of school who haven't learned anything, and professionals who can't teach anything. Everyone's going to be asking the little imagination machine in their pocket and we're all going to pay the price.

drascin.bsky.social
@drascin.bsky.social

I hate it because I'm being forced to do it at my job, and I point out in a year none of us are going to be qualified to review the code, and I get blown off as an alarmist, but I don't get the option of NOT using the stupid claude code. I can FEEL myself get worse in real time. It's so frustrating.

Brent "Werewolf_dr,” PhD
@werewolf-dr.bsky.social

We used to call the loss of skills we no longer used “skill atrophy,” and it was a natural thing. I think it’s still a useful term to differentiate skills naturally lost due to lack of use vs. skills artificially lost due to “AI” use (aka “deskilling”).