Merovingian approach to the LLM era: We'll adapt
In this new era of AI-assisted tools, you and I are constantly being bombarded with news about the obsolete software developer. We are told we are no longer needed, that anyone can build a product, that we are disposable, that layoffs are everywhere, and that the train is leaving so we better jump before it is too late.
I am here to call bullshit on all of it.
None of it is true, or at least it is a half-baked story.
It is undeniable that the world of development has changed forever. We are not going back to an era of manually coding everything, but we were never really in that era anyway. The capabilities of LLMs have increased impressively. They are no longer just autocomplete tools; they are becoming a whole mechanism to search, discover, and try. Maybe they try too much, but that is another story.
We can be as romantic as we want about the era before LLMs, but it is not coming back, and it should not. That is not the end of the story, though. We are still here, and we will adapt, just as we adapted to RAD tools, autogenerated code, compilers, transpilers, frameworks, and every other wave that promised to change everything.
We are going to adapt and make these tools ours.
So take a deep breath. We are already in this new way of building software. Coach, learn, and enjoy it, because it is not over. If anything, it is just beginning.
And just like the Merovingian once said: “I’ve survived your predecessor, and I will survive you.”
Til the next one.