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I think this from @sleepyfox is apt, and it’s hedge-your-bets true-either-way apt:
If by some miracle LLMs do eventually manage to generate usable software better than humans, there will be vastly increased demand for all the parts of programming that aren’t syntax and basic code patterns (ie all the hard parts).
If (as I expect) LLMs generate mountains of half-baked garbage code, the corps that survive will be paying humans to clean up the mess for a generation.
https://hachyderm.io/@sleepyfox/112700667658775141
As replies to the OP point out, the question isn’t really whether the software industry grows (it will, if civilization continues) or whether it changes (it will, guaranteed, as it always has).
The question is who gets harmed along the way. When companies punch themselves in the face, it’s not the people in power who bleed.
If my remark above about “all the hard parts” doesn’t immediately click for you — or if it does and you just want to cheer on somebody telling it like it is — I recommend this instant classic essay from @jenniferplusplus:
https://jenniferplusplus.com/losing-the-imitation-game/
See also this thread from my pinned posts:
I'm in the middle of Roger Penrose's "The Emperor's New Mind," which is a BIT of a slog since the author needs several hundred pages of physics and mathematics to get to his point. But even for a book written nearly four decades ago, he's got some pretty major points.