> The difference is that nobody will pay programmers to keep programming once LLMs outperform them. Programmers will simply become as obsolete as horse-drawn carriages, essentially overnight.
I don't buy this. A big part of the programmer's job is to convert vague and poorly described business requirements into something that is actually possible to implement in code and that roughly solves the business need. LLMs don't solve that part at all since it requires back and forth with business stakeholders to clarify what they want and educate them on how software can help. Sure, when the requirements are finally clear enough, LLMs can make a solution. But then the tasks of testing it, building, deploying and maintaining it remain too, which also typically fall to the programmer. LLMs are useful tools in each stage of the process and speed up tasks, but not replacing the human that designs and architects the solution (the programmer).
I don't buy this. A big part of the programmer's job is to convert vague and poorly described business requirements into something that is actually possible to implement in code and that roughly solves the business need. LLMs don't solve that part at all since it requires back and forth with business stakeholders to clarify what they want and educate them on how software can help. Sure, when the requirements are finally clear enough, LLMs can make a solution. But then the tasks of testing it, building, deploying and maintaining it remain too, which also typically fall to the programmer. LLMs are useful tools in each stage of the process and speed up tasks, but not replacing the human that designs and architects the solution (the programmer).