I've been largely Unplugged™️ from the internet for the last few months and I gotta say, the stuff I do see about AI and software engineering is fucking bleak. I can't help but think about the tools and impact we could build with 1/10th the investment, hype, and attention.
When I think about returning to work eventually and opening up my editor, I feel sad that I'm going to have to work around AI throughout the entire process, instead of just building something with other people. There has been enormous joy for me in engineering, and AI is antithetical to that for me.
LLMs absolutely have their uses, but the pervasive and inescapable way it's been shoved onto every aspect of software engineering is just dreadful to me. I used to look forward to seeing a pull request on my projects, now I dread it.
Even people I work with that I trust to use AI in a sensible way are affected- I see their work and know AI was involved and it kills a bit of my enthusiasm for engaging. I'm not condemning them and I'm glad they found some use in it, but it still takes a bit of wind out of my sails.