I got into software because I love programming. At some point I made the switch into project management, then engineering management, mainly because of some general desire and peer pressure to advance in my career. Lately I've been excited about AI assisted coding as an opportunity to return to a technical path, which is something that's always been on my mind since I made the switch. But now I'm asking myself: what is the point?
At first I was proud of my recent streak on Github, but what does it really show when most of the code is written by AI? I keep my repositories open, but for what purpose when nobody other than AI looks at other people's code anymore? I want to publish apps on the app store, but if there aren't already 20 of them doing the same thing, if I'm on to anything valuable someone else can copy it in a day. Writing applications for myself and my family seems to be the only thing left, and I enjoy it, but it's not a career path.
This must be how painters felt when photography was invented. Eventually painting survived doing what "photography couldn't do", and some people still appreciate a hand-painted portrait over a photograph. So what's the same thing for software? What can software developers do that AI can't?
The whole industry is trying to answer that question. I certainly don't have an answer but I am sure it's not what I am doing at the moment. At least AI can't choose what problems to work on (yet), so humans add value there. And I think there is value in knowing how to deploy and operate applications and services. Deep understanding of a problem. Taste. Maybe that's where the painting happens, or at least it's what separates a good photograph from a bad one.
P.S.: Right after I finished writing this, I found a post in my Linkedin feed that elaborates similar thoughts in a much better way.