100% correct with questioning "why we anthropomorphize their intentions and planning."
My personal feeling is that nobody has any idea what they're talking about. And when I say nobody, I mean NOBODY including Ng, Musk, et al.
The problem is with those who read others and just assume they're "experts" or their opinions have value. In some areas they do, sure. In this area they most likely don't.
That, or those of us who are skeptical are uninformed.
Or it's somewhere in the middle.
In any case, I'll stick to my skepticism for one main reason, which is, general intelligence is supposedly modelled after human intelligence. And human intelligence is something we're JUST BEGINNING to scratch the surface of understanding while at the same time, really have ZERO idea how deep the rabbit hole goes.
And as any competent engineer here should know, when trying to emulate a natural model, you first need to understand the model. Until we do that, we will not create a general AI. Like any other computer program (WHICH IT WILL BE! in this conception), it needs to be programmed. We need to know what to program before we can do it! Computer programs don't emerge spontaneously.
Been a coder and engineer for 12+ years, now a manager of a team of 8.
I evaluate my team on their ability to ship regularly and with a consistently low bug count. I encourage communication regularly and pair programming and all that. And I am around and I listen and interact.
It is pretty easy to tell when someone isn't pulling their weight or is having problems contributing based on the interactions within the team. People naturally express frustration (as well as praise)... you just have to be an active, hands on (not micromanaging necessarily) manager.
In addition, I specifically look for growth mentality when hiring and cultivate it within the team. That way I can be confident that when a weakness or need for improvement is identified, the person will work on it. It's my job as manager to properly address it and motivate the person.
In my experience, KPIs and other measurables (including even basic timesheets) are always gamed by developers. And anyway there are so many intangible and abstract aspects to doing this job, especially as you advance in your career, that it's arguable that the most important parts of the work aren't even measurable in any real sense in the first place. That's the art.
You are both overcomplicating it and under-estimating the complexity of these systems. Your main problem is scope. When you say "But generally it appears that the View and Controller taken together form the boundary to the system- the GUI and API.", it tells me that you've got a fundamental misunderstanding.
So, scope:
You should be thinking in the context of JUST your API, or JUST your GUI. And even within your GUI, you should think about JUST a single component.
Now, a complex application can be thought of as multiple components (a menu; a calendar; a list of projects; a profile) within a component (web page; dashboard; profile) within a component (web app) within a system.
So, scoped down to the ACTUAL piece of the system you're working on; think of the definitions like this:
MODEL - This is your data, according to the DOMAIN in which you're working.
VIEW - This is the visual representation of your data.
CONTROLLER - This is the code that contains the BUSINESS LOGIC that gets your data, changes your data, evaluates your data, changes your view, executes an algorithm, hits your API, etc.
These concepts come from Object Oriented Programming... the basic premise of which is to build objects that can be re-used in different components of the system. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't. Also important to understand in this world is the concept of SINGLE RESPONSIBILITY ... that is, in most cases, it is ideal to limit the functionality of any given piece of any given component to a specific and clear task/responsibiility.
So:
You have a MODEL object because if the concept of a "Project" is used in multiple components of a persistent application then you'll want to be able to create an instance of a "Project" and pass it around to be re-used. This way, you and your colleagues can be sure that "Projects" are always defined the same way, with the same properties, and an actual instance of a given project can be shared, transferred, altered, etc. in the same way by any part of the system.
The concept of Views really only applies to GUIs where you need to show something in a visual way. It's really this simple.
And the reason you have a controller is because the natural question you should be asking yourself at this point, considering single responsibility, is: Okay, I have my DATA and I have my means of VISUALIZING it, so how do I tell my visualization which data to visualize?
And that in a nutshell is the responsibility of the controller. Get, hold, manipulate, use, the data. Put it in the view. Hook into events in the view and change the data accordingly. Hit the API to save the data when appropriate. Modify the view to confirm the success to the user. etc. etc. But the ACTUAL data itself, the actual class or object that describes the fields that make it up, THAT is what your Model is.
Hope this helps clarify things... many more examples are warranted I'm sure. But you really should read a book on the subject. The internet is not a great place to really learn anything.
30 years old here. Not a grad, but been working for a long ass time. Been through burn-out. Now I manage a team and my sole goal as a manager is to make sure people are feeling good and happy as that leads to consistent productivity.
Also relevant is the fact that up until recently (call it 8 months ago), I would have mood swings and go through periods of depression as well.
Then I started exercising regularly. And I cannot be clear or emphatic enough in this but as someone who uses drugs for mood alteration; who is intelligent; who has a good career and is well respected; and who ultimately had no other legitimate reason to feel depressive emotions, since getting into a regular exercise routine, I've never felt more stable, positive and motivated in my life.
Our bodies are designed to move. For me, it's plainly clear that the sedentary lifestyle is what was at the root of my emotional issues.
I'm not saying you need to be a body builder or run a marathon. I do 15 minute runs and moderate weights and meditation. I swear, it is night and day.
As a secondary suggestion which has also been extremely helpful and beneficial, I'd recommend reading up on psychology, biases, and neuroplasticity. The most impacting book I've ever read is "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge. This book will give you a scientific/real basis of understanding how your brain works; how your habits form and are re-enforced, and how you can take control of these processes to literally shape your own reality into whatever you want. Super powerful stuff. I've bought probably 15 copies of this book for friends and relatives. Highly, highly recommended.
"How is this anything but the individual's personal problem?"
It is everybody's problem. Both the company leadership and the individual. Individuals need to be self-motivating and self-regulating and self-aware. But leadership needs to respect their workers, create an enjoyable workplace, and create an atmosphere that caters to the personality types they hire.
You may take issue with the "create an enjoyable workplace" part. But I would challenge that you don't have a wide enough variety of experience yet or you've been lucky. Personally I've been in environments where I've been treated like a "code monkey", expected to be at my desk typing for 8 to 10 hours a day, and expected to never socialize with my co-workers because socializing is seen as not productive. That was not enjoyable.
On the other hand, I've been in environments where programming is seen as a creative endeadvour, socializing and brainstorming is seen as lubricant for creativity, and the purpose of the job is seen not as pumping out code but solving problems and being creative. This one was clearly enjoyable.
Now as a manager/leader, I strive to create the second type of environment and the decisions I make and policies I put in place directly affect the outcome and the attitudes of my employees.
So aving been in both sides, and now being a leader who clearly sees his behaviour affecting it, I'll re-iterate:
Culture is contributed to by Everybody and leadership/management play a huge role; and it impacts the enjoyment and meaningfulness of work directly and clearly.
Spotful (www.bespotful.com) is platform that powers unobtrusive interactivity inside videos! We're based in Montreal, Canada, funded, and working with all the agencies you've heard of (Cossette, Sid Lee, RG/A) and some brands you love (Absolut Vodka, Cirque du Soleil).
We're currently looking for an intermediate (+) front-end developer (AngularJS-specialized) to join our growing team! This is a great opportunity for someone who wants to get in early on a team that is blowing it up.
We have fun, and our project is good for the internet (if our competitors win, there will just be more ads everywhere! We are pretty anti-ad ourselves). The challenges are real, but the team is solid! We can offer a good salary, benefits, stock options, and more.
Please reach out to me by email or reply to learn more.