Don’t be an Endpoint.
I want to share with you a new concept I learned recently.
When a person serves as a connection point between two software systems, they are considered an endpoint. This happens when the machines cannot yet communicate with each other directly and require a human intermediary.
The concept is introduced in Futureproof, a book by Kevin Roose.
These machine-managed jobs are the endpoints, and they’re a very dangerous place to be. Often, the goal of a machine-managed job is simply bridging a technological gap that is in the process of being automated or training an automated system to achieve human-level performance.
It is such an interesting concept that you will never see the world the same way once you know it. When you see a receptionist who checks access requests and prints badges on a PC, an Endpoint you marked. When you pass a truck driver who follows algorithm-defined and optimized routes, you find an Endpoint. When you visit a warehouse supermarket, staff load and unload palettes under the tablet’s instructions, and you notice a group of Endpoints.
If you are tech-savvy, you will know all three example jobs above are at the last phase of being automized. Some prototypes are already deployed for acceptance tests.
Someone will say OK, I will get a higher education degree and work in a field that involves more brain than body. Or if I am the one automating things, I may not be influenced.
Think again.
Software development is a good example. When we look at the scale, the average software development is actually not so far away from being automated by a machine. The market has massive needs. Investors have a high investment interest. The rules are defined quantitatively and emotionlessly. The working environment is fairly simple: a laptop with Internet connection. With the emergence of large language models, there are already hundreds of startups competing to win the battle of code auto-generation.
Compared to a software developer, a hairdresser is far more difficult to automate. Everyone wants to reduce the cost of cutting hair, especially in Germany. However, designing a system to work on someone's head, handle unclear customer requirements, and bring out various customer experiences makes the brilliant entrepreneur flee.
If you see the world through the lens of a technical advancement. Between the technical achievements, there are technical gaps. As an engineer, we aim to close these gaps. It’s only a matter of time to close all those gaps, depending on the desire for completion. However, the world is on more than a single dimension of metric. We are evolving not only technically but also humanly. Therefore, the only way to break this technical prison is to discover what is truly human.
I have had a mind-opening experience. I was still a full-time programmer, and I felt quite comfortable finding solutions for every problem with my codes. I thought that was a life I would live for a long time. Until I saw an answer to the question, “What will you lose if you are a programmer for a long time?”
Lost the awe of uncertainties. Many people lose their sense of wonder when they enter the world of computers. In this man-made world, everything seems certain, and programmers can become complacent, assuming that all problems can be solved in an efficient, waste-free, and logical manner. However, the real world is not like that, particularly when it comes to human affairs.
This answer provides us directions to escape being the endpoint. How do we solve a problem with incomplete and insufficient information? How do we bring out a result that is beyond standard? How do we bring in different flavors for a solution under the same inputs? Try to ask those questions more often instead of completing the work without questioning the sources and requirements.
I'm curious about the influence of this concept and want to know how close you think you are to being an Endpoint. Write to me, and let’s share our experience.
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