Rubber Duck Radio

tjameswilliams@gmail.com
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Technology
  • Updated Weekly

A podcast about the craft of software development focusing on AI and the future of software development.

  1. 2d ago

    AI Didn't Invent These Problems

    Tim and Paul break down Anthropic's Fable 5 pricing disconnect, the dav1d assembly decoder that outraced higher-level implementations, and why Agile's 2001 playbook stumbles when agents build apps in hours. They critique the hype around autonomous agent loops, highlighting the real constraints—budgets, tests, and decision quality—that determine whether AI accelerates value or just incinerates tokens. It's a tight hour on the shifting boundaries of craft, process, and the problems AI reveals but can't solve on its own.

  2. Jun 5

    Why 95% of AI Pilots Fail (And How to Fix It)

    Tim kicks things off with an AWS agent nightmare that couldn't tell dev from prod, sparking a deep dive into where deterministic pipelines end and true LLM reasoning begins. Using a clever flight-tracking case study, the hosts map out when to use frontier models, local open-weight models, or no AI at all—then connect it all to an MIT study showing 95% of generative AI pilots fail to deliver profit, often because companies treat the API bill itself as a success metric. If you're wrestling with agentic vs. scripted workflows, bloated AI spend, or just an editor that can't keep up, this conversation offers a clearer lens for building with intention.

  3. May 29

    The Tools That Got Us Here Won't Get Us There

    Tim and Paul dissect why CI/CD pipelines are buckling under the speed of AI-generated code, sharing strategies like pre-commit hooks, intelligent test selection, and ephemeral preview environments to survive the new velocity. Then Paul makes the case that Cursor’s reliance on VS Code could doom it; and they debate whether SpaceX’s $60 billion option to acquire the editor will be a lifeline or a chaos bomb. This episode is a candid look at how the entire developer toolchain, from pipelines to editors, is being forced to reinvent itself for the AI era.

  4. May 23

    RAG Isn't Dead, You're Just New Here

    In this episode, Tim and Paul dismantle popular 'RAG is dead' and 'MCP is over' hot takes, revealing what these declarations actually say about the author's place on the AI learning curve. They explore the overlooked depth of retrieval-augmented generation and model context protocol, weigh CLI-first agent workflows against structured tool use, and share practical tips like using tmux as an agent dashboard. The takeaway: every tool has limits, but declaring a paradigm dead often means you've stopped learning—and there's a smarter way forward.

  5. May 16

    AI's Demos vs. Dev Reality: The Bill Is Coming Due

    Tim and Paul dissect the real story behind Anthropic's locked-down Claude Mythos and OpenAI's public GPT-5.5 release, hint: it's about compute, not danger. They expose the coming end of AI's VC-subsidized era, where users burn $8 in compute for every $1 subscription, and why investors betting on AGI magic are ignoring what developers see daily: useful tools that still hit a hard ceiling. Tune in for a reality check on the gap between the sizzle reel and the merge conflict.

  6. May 2

    Where Open Source LLMs Are Actually Ahead

    Open source LLMs just hit a stunning milestone: Kimi K2.6 tied GPT-5.5 on the industry's toughest coding benchmark — and costs a fraction of the price to run. But this episode goes beyond the headlines to unpack where open source models still trail proprietary ones, why the new Temporal API is finally fixing JavaScript's 30-year date nightmare, and a growing concern that AI-driven development and the trend toward closed-source licensing could starve the open source commons that made all of this innovation possible in the first place. From production AI economics to the future of web framework innovation, Tim and Paul explore what the numbers actually mean for developers building real systems today.

  7. Apr 25

    GPT-5.5 vs Reality: Do Benchmarks Lie?

    Tim and Paul dissect the GPT-5.5 launch, weighing state-of-the-art benchmarks against real-world user vibes and token efficiency to determine if the upgrade is truly worth the increased cost for developers building production workloads at scale. They also unpack the groundbreaking HTML-in-Canvas proposal that promises to bridge the DOM and canvas rendering gap, unlocking new possibilities for accessibility, interactive web graphics, and shader-driven transitions without fragile hacks. Finally, Tim reveals exclusive results from a unique creative AI benchmark testing model taste and planning, exposing surprising winners beyond standard leaderboards and proving that real-world performance often diverges significantly from the spec sheet while highlighting which models possess the creative judgment required for complex multi-step tasks without hand-holding.

  8. Apr 17

    The Bar Has Moved: Junior Dev Survival Guide in the Age of AI

    Entry-level tech hiring is down 25%, but opportunity isn't dead—it's evolved. In this episode, Tim and Paul break down what's actually working for junior developers in 2026. We cover: the Claude Opus 4.7 backlash and what it teaches us about AI limitations, why "slop PRs" are flooding open source and how to stand out instead, where developers are actually finding jobs now (hint: it's not LinkedIn), and the portfolio projects that still impress hiring managers. Plus, we share what we're looking for when we hire: the technical skills, stakeholder management, and critical thinking that AI can't replace. If you're breaking into tech, building your portfolio, or hiring your first junior dev—this episode is for you.

See All (17)

About

A podcast about the craft of software development focusing on AI and the future of software development.

Information

  • Creator
    tjameswilliams@gmail.com
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    17
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Tim Williams
  • Show Website
    Rubber Duck Radio