Comment by ZephyrBlu
3 years ago
I understand AI programming isn't there yet, but it seems likely that sometime in the next decade the same thing that's happening to artists will happen to programmers.
3 years ago
I understand AI programming isn't there yet, but it seems likely that sometime in the next decade the same thing that's happening to artists will happen to programmers.
I've heard the analogy (I think I might have originally read it on HN) that software engineers in the 2020s are like Detroit auto workers in the 1950s - highly skilled, highly paid, and doomed. I hope this is wrong.
I don't think the market for highly technical "computer guys" is going to disappear, but the nature of the job is probably going to change dramatically. But then it wouldn't be the first time - hasn't the job already changed completely since, say, the 1980s? I can't imagine working in this job before the internet existed, but many did. Maybe in another decade or two I'll be saying that I can't remember what it was like to do this kind of work before AI was this good.
Already happened. It’s called product management and spec writing. The vast majority of professional programmers today are essentially sign painters working from spec.