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'The Coders Programming Themselves Out of a Job' appeared on the Atlantic

It's about a number of programmers, mostly posting anonymously or pseudonomously in various online forums or chatrooms about having completely automated their jobs. Some people think it is completely okay to not tell your boss, and keep collecting the same paycheck, after all you are doing the same work you were paid for before. Others feel like this is dishonest. Some programmers report having been fired when it was discovered that they had essentially automated themselves out of a job. One guy knew that management would monitor his screen, so he ran a loop of prerecorded video to hide the fact that he wasn't actually working. Lots of fun stories here. There is also the larger question of who should enjoy the fruits of automation. Despite more and more processes being automated by computers, Americans are working longer hours, wages are stagnant, and all of the gains in productivity are being taken by companies. It is only in these tiny unnoticed cases in which the workers are enjoying the fruits of automation.

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