Anyways, in general, I wouldn't worry because if we get to a point where software can replace human software engineers then almost everyone else will be without a job soon after (think bug-free software being produced exponentially for every market niche).
It seems to me we never make less of something when we make it more efficiently. The opposite seems true.
Sure, if one clung to writing "code" on binary punch cards instead of adopting assembly then that person would have been redundant after a while. Today some people still write assembly but the vast majority uses higher level languages. LLMs will probably be the next step in the abstraction ladder. If you think yourself a <insert programming language> programmer then, yeah, you should worry. Current programming languages will be obsolete in my opinion. Letting LLMs write code and then reading/changing it is a very short term (and doomed) trend. You don't read compiler-written assembly of your <insert programming language> programs, do you? Almost no one cares how a piece of software works unless it's slow and/or needs to be modified. Software programming will get to a much higher level of abstraction (think modules, integrations). So much so that everyone could do it. The same way everyone could be a plumber but almost no one is. A plumber is paid to suffer under the sink or getting covered in dirty water and or crap. Something you don't want to deal with. Sure business owner could get an LLM to write their brand new idea of the day but they won't. They will pay someone else to do it, you'll be that someone because they'd rather handle other business stuff or enjoy the money they're making. On top of all consider that the amount of new things people could do will also increase exponentially. If we lived lives like our ancestors we could do nothing all day (and probably we are, to their eyes) but we don't, actually we get busier and busier.
Anyways, in general, I wouldn't worry because if we get to a point where software can replace human software engineers then almost everyone else will be without a job soon after (think bug-free software being produced exponentially for every market niche).
It seems to me we never make less of something when we make it more efficiently. The opposite seems true.
Sure, if one clung to writing "code" on binary punch cards instead of adopting assembly then that person would have been redundant after a while. Today some people still write assembly but the vast majority uses higher level languages. LLMs will probably be the next step in the abstraction ladder. If you think yourself a <insert programming language> programmer then, yeah, you should worry. Current programming languages will be obsolete in my opinion. Letting LLMs write code and then reading/changing it is a very short term (and doomed) trend. You don't read compiler-written assembly of your <insert programming language> programs, do you? Almost no one cares how a piece of software works unless it's slow and/or needs to be modified. Software programming will get to a much higher level of abstraction (think modules, integrations). So much so that everyone could do it. The same way everyone could be a plumber but almost no one is. A plumber is paid to suffer under the sink or getting covered in dirty water and or crap. Something you don't want to deal with. Sure business owner could get an LLM to write their brand new idea of the day but they won't. They will pay someone else to do it, you'll be that someone because they'd rather handle other business stuff or enjoy the money they're making. On top of all consider that the amount of new things people could do will also increase exponentially. If we lived lives like our ancestors we could do nothing all day (and probably we are, to their eyes) but we don't, actually we get busier and busier.