Comment by RamtinJ95
4 months ago
This analogy is inaccurate and spreading it just plays into the hands of those trying to press down SWE salaries and their importance. A better analogy is that previously we had a hand saw, now we have one of those automatic ones which speeds up some processes a lot but cant be used everywhere in every situation.
I think both are correct and reflect people's situations at work. Some are doing the ikea thing, some are doing the automatic saws, and some are using the automatic saws to make the ikea things for someone else.
It's also why the opinions are so heated on this. There's many forms of management, and some play way better with the AI tools than others. Some people are doing the assembly line jobs and some are doing code ninja jobs. Some are actually doing engineering, and some are code monkeys who are paid the same range as the engineers and using the same tools.
It just is what it is. I hadn't contemplated SWE salaries at all with that comment. However, now I would love to see your argument for why SWE salaries should continue to be propped up as one of the highest paid professions? In a world where productivity gets a >10x boost and the barriers to entry get so low.
Logging is absolutely less labor intensive since the invention of the motorized chainsaw and other heavy equipment. A look at farming and other construction jobs is probably similar to what will happen with SWE in the long-term. With better tools and access to information, a ton of people can DIY a majority of things. There will still be jobs for pros to build the skyscrapers and other non-DIY friendly things. But, what developers can charge and what people are willing to pay will most likely change due to some of these technologies.
It is accurate except that they never send all the parts so you need to create some yourself and then most of the sent parts don't fit either, so you end up creating most yourself.