For nearly all of 2024 I spent no time using or thinking about AI. Thanks to a combination of generous maternity and unpaid leaves, for most of the year I focused on learning how to be a mom. As someone who had spent the better part of the last 12+ years immersed in tech, I was surprised to discover that during my few bits of free time I wanted nothing to do with it.
Ok, that’s not entirely true. I did briefly write some code when I had an idea for a product that could improve bottle feeding, but after a few weeks of this I discovered that caring for an infant is indeed a full time job and writing code during naps is not sustainable. I still think it’s a great idea (it doesn’t even use AI), so someday when I have the time I’d love to give it another shot.
Aside from that little idea-powered burst of energy, I stayed away from AI headlines without really trying. And when one came across my radar, I didn’t have any desire to read it. I loved filling my time with an entirely different kind of work, and I didn’t realize how much I needed a break from tech.
I was relieved and also somewhat surprised to find my curiosity for tech did return when I went back to work. I found myself excited to catch up on the latest AI developments, which were neverending in a world that moves so fast. What surprised me most, though, was how much AI had changed while I was away. It had gone from a fun thing to play with on the side to something that I used at work to make me more productive.
I’ve been working on developer SDKs for AI models for the past few years and I always used the models I’m building SDKs for, but before it was primarily for testing purposes. I’d ask silly questions like “generate a picture of a cat eating sushi” or “give me a list of recipes inspired by Taylor Swift songs”. Now I use them throughout my work day, and it’s really helped my transition back to work. I think of AI like my (mostly) trusty sidekick who always responds quickly, doesn’t judge me for asking stupid questions, and is sometimes wrong.
I returned to an entirely new codebase which was quite daunting while learning to balance so many new things at once. But instead of worrying about asking my teammates basic programming questions that were the result of not doing something for a year (I’m also not going to repeat them here), I asked Gemini. This was incredibly helpful for getting my confidence back, and it allowed me to save questions specific to our codebase for my team.
As I ramped back up, I switched from using AI to answer basic questions to integrating it into my day to day work. Here are some examples of prompts that have helped me:
- Can you give me the pros and cons of using {library name or approach} for solving {problem}?
- How has {functionality} changed across {programming launch} version x.x to x.x?
- Can you format this JSON so it’s easier to read?
- Can you highlight the differences between the expected and actual output here?
- I use this one a lot when writing tests!
- Can you give me a weeknight meal plan of healthy recipes that take less than 30 minutes to prepare that I can also feed to my baby as leftovers? Include a shopping list too.
- Ok, this one is not directly work related but it is relevant to being back at work.
Of course I always have to double-check the AI’s answers against documentation, and sometimes I end up correcting it. But when I think about how far AI has come in the past year I’m really impressed. Can you use it for everything? Definitely not. Does it have risks? Absolutely. Did it make my transition back to work easier? Also yes.
While I did forget some things that AI helped fill the gaps on, I was also surprised at how much came back to me naturally. In what sometimes felt like an out of body experience, I’d find my fingers typing a command I needed to run and I’d just stare, in awe of how my brain happened to store a random git command I hadn’t thought about in a long time and then retrieve it for me right when I needed it. The same can be said for the lyrics to Lose Yourself, but I digress.
If you’re reading this and you’re about to return to work or just starting back after leave, solidarity. It’s tough but you can do it. Being completely honest, I found the buildup of returning to work and the first week pretty rough. Three minutes into my first meeting on my first day back, I had to drop to take a call from daycare. Then I spiraled into thoughts of “maybe I’m not really cut out for this” and “I guess I’m simultaneously a terrible employee and mom.” If this is also you, hopefully it feels a tiny bit better to know you’re not alone. I’m happy to report that while there are tough moments every week, things did improve from there.