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 …
Why AI hasn’t replaced software engineers, and won’t
Coding agents as normal technology
Why Software Engineering Is Indispensable in the Age of Coding Agents
Can AI make Software Engineering (SE) -- the discipline -- obsolete? And can it make software engineers -- the professionals -- redundant? This paper argues that the rise of capable AI coding...
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:
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.
Companies Are Blaming AI for Layoffs. The Real Reason Will Piss You Off.
180,000 tech workers lost their jobs in 2025. Companies say it’s because of AI. Oxford researchers call BS.
AI is removing the middle class of software engineering
AI makes projects with weak engineering culture fail much faster.
Arvind Narayanan on Twitter / X
To understand and empathize with how workers in many or most fields outside software experience advances in AI capabilities, I propose a little thought experiment. https://t.co/QZG24aRiBe— Arvind Narayanan (@random_walker) July 28, 2026
Is AI ruining our skills? Early results are in — and they’re not good
Reliance on artificial-intelligence tools degrades the abilities of physicians and software engineers, studies show.
Companies rushed in on AI. Now some are pulling back
Rapid AI adoption left workers cleaning up a flood of errors and low-quality work
AI Has No Wisdom and Neither Will You
Certainly the industry is transforming, however, the people and organizations falling into the trap of no longer reading and writing code only do so at their peril.
Agentultra - Why I Won't Use AI
If you are a programmer in 2025 you have likely been pressured into adopting generative artificial intelligence tools into your workflow. Maybe you have already been ordered to. You have probably wondered if next year will be the year that you will be replaced with an AI. Or maybe in the next five years. Weren’t we supposed to be replaced already?
AI makes weak engineers less harmful
Like other kinds of puzzle-solving, software engineering ability is strongly heavy-tailed. The strongest engineers produce way more useful output than the average, and the weakest engineers often are actively net-negative: instead of moving projects along, they create problems that their colleagues have to spend time solving. That’s why many tech companies try to build a small, ludicrously well-paid team instead of a large team of more average engineers, and why so far this seems to be a winning strategy.
Ignore the Grifters - AI Isn't Going to Kill the Software Industry | Dustin Ewers
I feel like half of my social media feed is composed of AI grifters saying software developers are not going to make it. Combine that sentiment with some economic headwinds and it's easy to feel like we're all screwed. I think that's bullshit. The best days of our industry lie ahead.
AI Is Quietly Changing Who Gets to Build Software
What If Universities No Longer Need Edtech Companies?
Companies That Tried to Save Money With AI Are Now Spending a Fortune Hiring People to Fix Its Mistakes
Companies that rushed to replace human labor with AI are now shelling out to have IRL workers to fix the technology's screwups.
