That AI Changed That Much? It Will Change How We Work, But Is It the Big Deal?

I think it will make our life harder.

First, when I look at the history, it isn’t anything new. The first computer — a big machine, a lot of people working just to start working on it. It was slow, uncomfortable, but it was enough to start creating on it.

I’ll skip ahead a little. We started using more complex languages, invented the PC. It became more convenient for everyday people. Still not perfect, but more people were able to do something on a computer. It still demanded more knowledge though.

We all see technology becoming more convenient for everyone. They can create easier than ever. The abstraction is getting better and better for people outside technology. It is great.

What does that actually mean?

What does that actually mean for everyone, especially people in IT? Everyone can now ship projects. It is easier than ever. I believe that moves the bar of skill much higher for people in IT. Writing code won’t be the best skill in the future. I think being able to ship a project from scratch — one that is secure and meets expectations — will be the new key skill. Maybe even “Junior Product Deliverer” will appear on the job market.

But that’s not new either.

Some people won’t agree with me, but code itself is just a part of the product. No one outside IT cares how it works. Just like I don’t care how my car works — I just want a good product.

The factory analogy

A factory 100 years ago was full of people doing one repetitive thing. Like people creating CRUDs 10 years ago — and to this day. Now factories are full of machines instead of people. Yes, they still need designers and engineers, but the work looks completely different. The code itself is becoming cheaper.

Someone might say: “Yes, but creating code is not just screwing in a screw.” I agree. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be automated. What AI does well is creating within constraints. If you can define whether something is a success or not, you can use AI to solve the problem. We have tests, pentests, and other techniques and tools to measure it. It works or it doesn’t.

That indicates something important: in the near future, the skill that matters most won’t be writing code. It will be understanding what needs to be done, how, and why.

Does it mean it’s the end of times?

We can create everything, so what now?

I don’t think so.

My observation is that we started from generalists. People working in IT 30 years ago were able to create and deploy everything from scratch. Even set up the hardware — like a server for their product. Then abstraction came, and with it, specialization. Roles appeared: frontend developer, backend developer, DB admin. A few years later — generalist again. Full stack. With AI, you can be a generalist once more.

How long? Another 5 years maybe. Then another wave of specialized roles will appear. Not because AI will execute some unrecognized pattern, but because we will start creating more complicated projects. With more complicated projects, we will need narrow specialists — but those people will be on another level. They will understand more. Or less. It depends on the level of abstraction you choose to evaluate their skills.

The biggest problem

What is the biggest problem? It isn’t AI. We’ve seen this before. When the internet became common, we all gained a source of knowledge. Mostly for free. But what did we do? We watched hamsters and cats.

It will be the same with AI. We have a mentor, a teacher, available 24/7. Maybe not perfect yet, but still quite good. And we’ll use it to generate images and videos for fun.

Does it mean something? I don’t think so. It’s just an interesting phenomenon.

The spiral keeps turning. It always has.