Well there are a lot of us very clear that our identities are being threatened and scared shitless we will lose the ability to pay our rent or buy food because of it.
As somebody currently navigating the brutal job market, I'm scared shitless about that too. I have to tell you though, that the historical success rate of railing against "technologies that make labor more efficient" is currently at 0.0000000%.
We've survived and thrived through inflection points like this before, though. So I'm doing my best to have an adapt-or-die mindset.
"computers are taking away human jobs"
"visual basic will eliminate the need for 'real coders'"
"nobody will think any more. they'll 'just google it' instead of actually understanding things"
"SQL is human readable. it's going to reduce the need for engineers" (before my time, admittedly)
"offshoring will larely eliminate US-based software development"
etc.
Ultimately (with the partial exception of offshoring) these became productivity-enhancers that increased the expectations placed on the shoulders of engineers and expanded the profession, not things that replaced the profession. Admittedly, AI feels like our biggest challenge yet. Maybe.
We exist inside of capitalism - particularly late-stage deeply unregulated capitalism.
You are always very close to losing the ability to pay your rent or buy food not because your identity is being threatened but because a bunch of people who don’t care about you and only care about making money will happily lay you off without a second thought if they think it will make the even richer people above them happy.
And they will do this whether there is an AI boom or not.
I have been paid to write software for almost 30 years now. And never seriously worried I wouldn’t be able to find another job writing software until now.
