Comment by wccrawford
1 day ago
While I mostly agree with you, this is the kind of thing that might not have been done if the AI couldn't do the heavy lifting.
They had previously chosen React Native because it was easier for programmers to keep it updated, since it was really just 1 codebase. With AI, those same programmers can do the more difficult version, keeping the native apps updated separately.
So did it kill a job, or did it make it possible for the existing programmers to do it better?
It's the kind of thing that is really hard to determine in general, but here, it really does sound like they only made the change because it became possible with existing resources. They would not have done it otherwise.
In case of my company, the port was planned for this year, with a 9 month timeline and about 10 FTE team. It ended up being done in 3 months, with 2 engineers. (Sure, plus testers and internal bureaucracies, but that 2 FTE for 3 months vs. 10 FTE for 9 forecasted is apples-to-apples). Sure its eating up SWE jobs.
That's an example of AI growing the sector that can lead to more jobs. Because suddenly a lot of tasks that weren't economically viable are now going to be in demand. Custom software for small businesses, platform specific optimized code instead of cross platform software, etc...