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Software engineers are getting crushed by AI, and they think you’re next.
AI’s ability to automate code is simultaneously making developers productive and overworked. One technologist said his job is harder than ever, lamenting that “AI fatigue” is real.
The good news is it won’t last forever. The bad news is that’s because most of them will be out of a job.
Software veteran Steve Yegge predicts that AI will eventually lead Big Tech companies to cut 50% of their engineers. (He wasn’t a total drag. Yegge offered advice to software engineers for avoiding the ‘vampiric effect’ of AI.)
“Ok, but I don’t work in tech. Why do I care?” you callously ask. (So cold!)
Well, according to the people in the thick of it, AI isn’t stopping with them.
Matt Shumer, the CEO of an AI startup, warned AI’s disruption will be “much bigger” than COVID. The post has racked up more than 69 million views on X, gaining traction outside traditional tech circles. Shumer spoke to BI’s Brent D. Griffiths about the post and the fact that he (surprise!) used AI to help him write it.
It’s worth noting Shumer’s company specializes in AI personal assistants. He certainly benefits from getting people on board with AI. But that doesn’t invalidate a lot of his points about workers needing to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.
There’s a counterargument to the doomsday prophecy.
Maybe engineering jobs are especially ripe for AI disruption?
The job, after all, is highly digital and requires hard skills, two factors that make it a strong candidate for AI automation.
Software engineers have also been somewhat insulated from the tech-based disruptions the rest of us have endured and adapted to during the pre-AI times. A new tool here. A new app there. At some point, many of us have gotten numb to tech disrupting what we do. You just figure out how to adapt.
Meanwhile, software engineers were living on easy street. You don’t have to worry about the tools when you’re the ones building them. For years, software developers enjoyed healthy salaries, good work-life balance, and fantastic job security.
Now the tables are turned, and suddenly it’s everyone’s problem?
I’m not suggesting AI won’t impact the rest of us. For starters, entry-level jobs across the board appear to be on the chopping block thanks to AI. Consultants also seem ripe for some shakeups. And the legal industry is certainly feeling the heat.
(I could mention journalism, but we were on the extinction list long before AI. When I started college in 2007, my professors all told me the industry was dying. Almost two decades later, we’re still here. If anything, it looks like AI has created some high-paying jobs for writers.)
AI might end up being massively disruptive for all of us, but at this point, we’re all used to it.
Where do you stand on the AI doomsday prophecy? Send me an email at ddefrancesco@businessinsider.com.
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