45-Year Tech Veteran on AI Fatigue: Staying Current Is the Wrong Goal

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A software engineer with 45 years of experience, spanning assembly language to cloud computing, writes that the relentless pace of AI development has left even seasoned professionals feeling perpetually behind. Unlike past paradigm shifts that felt like manageable learning curves, the current AI wave is unique because the tools themselves are accelerating the rate of change. The veteran argues that trying to stay fully current is a losing battle, and the more honest strategy is deciding what knowledge to let go of. Instead, he focuses on understanding foundational concepts — such as context windows, tool-calling, and retrieval methods — rather than chasing individual product releases. He also emphasizes accepting beginner status again, budgeting time to verify AI outputs, and choosing a few areas for deep expertise while accepting only surface-level familiarity elsewhere.

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