You'll commonly see new technologies utilized by people that have the ability to make use of that technology for their own gain. Programmers are (for the most part) the only ones that can unlock LLMs to solve very specific personal problems. There are workflow automation tools allowing non-programmers the ability to do workflows but that's only one way to utilize them and it will always be constrained by the already developed integrations and the constraints of the workflow platform.
In regards to jobs and job losses I have no idea how this is going to impact individual salaries over time in different positions, but I honestly doubt its going to do much. Language models are still pretty bad at working with large projects in a clean and effective way. Maybe that will get better, but I think this generational breakthrough of technology is slowing down a lot.
Even if they do get better, they still need direction and validation. Both of which still require some understanding of what is going on (even vibe coding works better with a skilled engineer).
I suspect there is going to be more "programmers" in the world as a result, but most of them will be producing small boutique single webpage tools and designs that are higher quality than "made by my cousin's kid" that a lot of small businesses have now. Companies > ~30 people with software engineers on staff seem to be using it as a performance enhancer rather than a work replacement tool.
There will always be shitty managers and short-sighted executives that are looking to replace their human staff with some tool, and there will be layoffs but I don't think the overall pool of jobs is going to reduce. For the same reason I don't think there is going to be significant pay adjustments but a dramatic increase in the long-tail of cheap projects that don't make much money on their own.
In regards to jobs and job losses I have no idea how this is going to impact individual salaries over time in different positions, but I honestly doubt its going to do much. Language models are still pretty bad at working with large projects in a clean and effective way. Maybe that will get better, but I think this generational breakthrough of technology is slowing down a lot.
Even if they do get better, they still need direction and validation. Both of which still require some understanding of what is going on (even vibe coding works better with a skilled engineer).
I suspect there is going to be more "programmers" in the world as a result, but most of them will be producing small boutique single webpage tools and designs that are higher quality than "made by my cousin's kid" that a lot of small businesses have now. Companies > ~30 people with software engineers on staff seem to be using it as a performance enhancer rather than a work replacement tool.
There will always be shitty managers and short-sighted executives that are looking to replace their human staff with some tool, and there will be layoffs but I don't think the overall pool of jobs is going to reduce. For the same reason I don't think there is going to be significant pay adjustments but a dramatic increase in the long-tail of cheap projects that don't make much money on their own.