Ask HN: Are we pretending RAG is ready, when it's barely out of demo phase?

I can’t decide if it is hype, FOMO, or what ever would I call it. I see all of the AI talk, I hear about new tools coming out daily, I read about startups pivoting only to include AI (otherwise there is no money for them)… And now I fear that if I don’t try out or even start using AI tools that I’ll get overrun.

Do I even need to know what is MCP? Do I need to have agents to do some tasks on my behalf? Do I need to start creating apps and sites using Vibe coding (I’m not a developer)?

Comments (5)

tootyskooty · 19m ago

No, you don't need to try to keep up with new tools. I would recommend you try the models though, even for a short time every few months. Send them questions or things you're working on, and see how they do. Provide sufficient context.

It's a good approximation to say that all tools are thin wrappers on top of the models, and having a good grasp of what the models can/can't do right now gets you 80% of the way there.

kingkongjaffa · 42m ago

You don't _NEED_ to know it, but it's probably good for your career to have some exposure in 2025 to LLMs.

Download ollama and mess with a model locally, implement your own RAG system so you get a feel for what that entails and what good and bad use cases look like. I use LLMs every day for random stuff, but not really because I need the output, more because I need to know and understand where it's strengths and weaknesses are.

You're not trying to become an overnight expert here. Nobody expects that. But there's this gap right now between what stakeholders think AI can do (basically everything) and what it actually can do. And guess who needs to bridge that gap?

As a software engineer part of your responsibility is to advise non-software engineers on what is just now possible with technology, because when a stakeholder comes to you with some wacky idea, you need to be able to judge it and decide on the investment of time the idea might require, or if it's even possible today/now.

sunscream89 · 3h ago

No.

Read real books. Talk to real people. Do real things.

You can catch up when everyone else actually gets somewhere, and have spent the whole meanwhile on self exploration.

riffraff · 1h ago

IMVHO it's worthwhile to invest some time playing with the new technologies, as you may appreciate them and found them useful. Give a try to Claude code, Gemini-cli, copilot in vs code with agent mode, or in GitHub.

But I don't think you need to stress, there is a lot of hype and there will be time to learn how to use the winners later.

al_borland · 2h ago

When companies are changing their names to include buzzwords, it’s hype. This happened during the dotcom bubble, with crypto, and now AI.

Whatever your job is will dictate if, or how much, you may care. How things shake out at the end of the day will likely look much different than they do right now.

If you’re not someone who likes to try and ride hype waves with various get rich quick schemes, and not in the space, I wouldn’t worry about it. Sit back with your popcorn and watch these people fight for a few years and let the bubble pop. Then we’ll see who is left and what it’s actually good for. You can then adjust from there if needed.