> If AI is a threat to software engineering, I wouldn't expect many software engineers to actively accelerate that trend.
There are two strong forces at play. Employees generally want to put in the least amount of effort possible and go home at 5. Employers want to save money and pay for fewer employees. AI creates a strong symbiosis here and both sides are focused on a short term win.
not just employees, founders as well :) as a serial founder, I find AI exciting because after my 3rd company, thinking of my 4th was quite exhausting but AI has re-invigorated by ambition to start another company.
Sometime very soon we’ll cross a threshold where most people can do most of their coding through a tool like Claude and be more productive. It will feel like coding still, breaking and building things, but they will get more done in the same time. Everyone will switch.
If you work at a startup, sometimes you have to do extremely mundane and boring things unrelated to your expertise (“wear many hats”). AI is especially useful in those cases so you can quickly go back to working on things you enjoy.
There are two strong forces at play. Employees generally want to put in the least amount of effort possible and go home at 5. Employers want to save money and pay for fewer employees. AI creates a strong symbiosis here and both sides are focused on a short term win.