Impulse: You Decide Whether AI Steals Your Job

A few weeks ago, I was still certain that our tech jobs were safe. They probably still are, but they will change fundamentally.

The number of engineers embracing AI-assisted coding is rising sharply, from what I can tell. For many tasks, Claude Opus 4.6 and Codex 5.3 are “good enough” — and for just as many tasks, honestly better than some devs I know.

My position stands: if you don’t understand code, you’ll hit natural limits. But!

If you do understand code, you should urgently engage with the technology. It’s not going away. It will probably get more expensive. In larger companies, it will likely run locally instead of in the cloud. It might shrink your team. But it’s not going away.

I’m not saying this judgmentally. The amount of “now buildable” software is increasing, and so are the opportunities. Cognitive load is increasing. Speed is increasing. Historically, that raises the likelihood of burnout.

I view this critically, but I can’t form a judgment about it without trying it myself.

Those who shut themselves off from AI-assisted software development risk being second choice for many companies. They risk making a premature judgment about something that could irreversibly shape our digital everyday life.

What makes us strong as engineers is adaptability, curiosity, and the courage to venture into unknown territory. Don’t give that up now! I don’t know what will happen. Anyone who claims to know is lying. But I know that I won’t let it catch me off guard.