Software engineering may no longer be a lifetime career

I don’t think there’s compelling evidence that using AI makes you less intelligent overall1. However, it seems pretty obvious that using AI to perform a task means you don’t learn as much about performing that task. Some software engineers think this is a decisive argument against the use of AI. Their argument goes something like this:

Our minds aren’t equipped to handle AI

AI is junk food for the mind: easy, tempting and ultimately very bad for you.

Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

I’m tired of this phrase and this simple way of thinking about tools. This blog post is a wandering train of thought on the topic of what tools are and why it matters to be even slightly more mature in how we think about them.

AI is An Ideology, Not A Technology

At its core, "artificial intelligence" is a perilous belief that fails to recognize the agency of humans.

AI Is a Product of Humanity. Humanity Should Own AI.

Big Tech has looted humanity’s creative output to create artificial intelligence. We don’t just deserve a share of AI’s profits — we deserve control over it.

Pluralistic: IP can’t save you from AI (18 Aug 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

You don't have to believe that AI "art" is any good (I don't), nor do you have to believe that AI "art" can be any good (I don't) to understand that the reason that the capital markets are putting trillions into AI is that they believe they can fire workers of every kind and replace them with AI:

The Real Reason We Still Need Software Developers in the World of AI

The dream of AI churning out perfect production-ready code doesn’t hold up against the reality of modern software development.

AI and the crisis of the author

Editor’s note (September 21, 2026): We have removed this essay. AI was used in its preparation. The TLS editorial guidelines prohibit the use of AI in the

AI Is a Waste of Time

The newest AI tools are accelerating basic research and scaring the general public. But many people are simply using them as toys.

The politics and possibilities of ‘AI could kill us all’

AI will not exterminate the human race. But what big tech really *is* doing is bad enough that the notion may help fuel the movement against it.

Why AI hasn’t replaced software engineers, and won’t

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kappor take on the question of AI job losses through the lens of a profession that is uniquely suited to AI disruption - software engineering. In …

Debates over AI consciousness are a trap

If AI systems are viewed as too advanced to control, the companies that build them can’t held liable for the harms they cause.

We All Hate AI, but if You’re Poor, It Can Really Ruin Your Life

Debt collection. Parole decisions. Oversight of public services. It’s all being outsourced to AI, with terrible consequences for poor people.

​​Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security License Requirements

​​Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security License Requirements Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now broadly capable, which can produce both benefits and dangers. AI will hasten the design and proliferation of bioweapons, cyberweapons, nuclear weapons, progressively more general intelligence,...