The financial barrier point is really great.
I feel the same with a lot of points made here, but hadn't yet thought about the financial one.
When I started out with web development that was one of the things I really loved. Anyone can just read about html, css and Javascript and get started with any kind of free to use code editor.
Though you can still do just that, it seems like you would always drag behind the 'cool guys' using AI.
You still don’t need AI to write software, but investing in it will make you more productive. More money enables you to buy better tools, that was always true for any trade. My friend is a woodworker and his tools are 5-10x more expensive than what I have in my shack, but are also more precise, more reliable and easier to use. AI is the same, I would even argue it gives you a bigger productivity boost with less money (especially given that local models are getting better literally every week).
Incredible take considering using AI robs new learners of off real learning. There is a reason lots of experienced devs are dropping it from their editors. Using AI will not make you a better dev, it simply accelerates you building a failing product faster, because ultimately you wont understand your own product. Most devs that use AI blindly trust it instead of questioning what it produces.
> Most devs that use AI blindly trust it instead of questioning what it produces.
Without the punctuation, I first read it tautologically as "Most devs that use AI blindly, trust it instead of questioning what it produces". But even assuming you meant "Most devs that use AI, blindly trust it instead of questioning what it produces", there's still a negative feedback loop. We're still at the early experimentation phase, but if/when AI capabilities eventually settle down, people will adapt, learning when and when not they can trust the AI coder and when to take the reins - that would be the skill that people are hired for.
Alternatively, we could be headed towards an intelligence explosion, with AI growing in capabilities until it surpasses human coders at almost all types of coding work, except perhaps for particular tasks which the AI dev could then delegate to a human.
A dystopia in which ill look for a new career. Using AI to generate code sucks the joy out of the job.
> A dystopia in which ill look for a new career.
What makes you think that will be necessary?
Because I dont want to work with AI agents? I like my work to be fun, as in "I could bear working 8 hours a day with this." I like thinking about the problems and solutions and how that translates to code. I like implementing it with my own hands. Substitute that with writing prompts and I'll look for a different career thats actually fun.
These platforms all feel like they are being massively subsidized right now. I'm hoping that continues and they just burn investor cash in a race to the bottom.