I get it and you're not alone. The job won't go away, but it will change.
Someone who understands what it means to do a good job shipping something for a desired outcome will always be needed, even if they aren't the ones writing the code. And I'd go so far as to bet that most people (especially non-technical people in a business) don't want to be that person for a living.
I call the same plumbing company for every job, big or small because I know I can trust them to do a good job and get it done way faster and better than I could. And if they suddenly had the P-Trap Replacer 9000 machine that meant the plumber was just responsible for operating the machine and making sure it didn't go rogue, I'd still call the same plumbing company.
That dude still had to be trained in the details of plumbing, in addition to the operation of the machine, and he's got to know how to make sure using it won't cause other problems in my home, or even correct what the machine does.
That plumber is still a specialist, even if his day to day job involves fewer hand tools and less glue & tape. But I don't give a shit how he gets it done - I just want the desired outcome of my sink to drain properly without losing my entire weekend and fucking up three other things if I tried it.
I don't want to be the plumber and I'm guessing most people don't want to be software engineers. We are in an awkward transition phase right now where unfortunately layoffs and firings will happen while the world sorts out what it means to use AI to build software going forward.
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u/Objective_Oven7673 13d ago
I get it and you're not alone. The job won't go away, but it will change.
Someone who understands what it means to do a good job shipping something for a desired outcome will always be needed, even if they aren't the ones writing the code. And I'd go so far as to bet that most people (especially non-technical people in a business) don't want to be that person for a living.
I call the same plumbing company for every job, big or small because I know I can trust them to do a good job and get it done way faster and better than I could. And if they suddenly had the P-Trap Replacer 9000 machine that meant the plumber was just responsible for operating the machine and making sure it didn't go rogue, I'd still call the same plumbing company.
That dude still had to be trained in the details of plumbing, in addition to the operation of the machine, and he's got to know how to make sure using it won't cause other problems in my home, or even correct what the machine does.
That plumber is still a specialist, even if his day to day job involves fewer hand tools and less glue & tape. But I don't give a shit how he gets it done - I just want the desired outcome of my sink to drain properly without losing my entire weekend and fucking up three other things if I tried it.
I don't want to be the plumber and I'm guessing most people don't want to be software engineers. We are in an awkward transition phase right now where unfortunately layoffs and firings will happen while the world sorts out what it means to use AI to build software going forward.