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It seems to me that the dissenting voices from software engineers burned out after having the AI hype shoved down their throats have been growing louder lately. Just this week I read several posts both here (e.g. [1], [2]) and on Reddit (e.g. [3], [4]) with hundreds of comments from devs who have long moved past skepticism and ambivalence into one or more of the five stages of grief.

That's not to say they're the majority by any means: the "I am 100x more productive with AI," "I haven't hand-coded in months and love it," "adapt or become irrelevant" posts by True Believers haven't slowed down and still make up the lion's share, especially on places like LinkedIn, where voicing dissent can have real-world consequences for your job and future employability (I may have learned this the hard way after being laid off for nebulous "misalignment" reasons). But still, the non-believers, from mild skeptics to full-on haters, do seem more vocal than, say, six months or a year ago.

Questions:

1. Have you noticed this shift too, or is it just my social media algorithm surfacing these more?

2. What can we (devs) realistically do before accepting this as the new normal? Early retirement is one option, and some have already taken it ([5]) or plan to in the coming years.

I'm seriously considering early retirement too (at least from tech) but I was recently contacted by a recruiter for a role that, among other things, mentions "zero AI-assisted coding." My eyes lit up, but it also got me thinking: are there more companies like this just keeping a low profile? Could a critical mass of vocal, defiant devs proclaiming "I will not be bullied, shamed, or forced into agentic coding" actually shift the narrative that AI coding is inevitable? Could contrarian companies and founders start advertising "organic, human-written" code as a quality signal and a perk for attracting experienced craftsmen who refuse to bow to AI mandates? Maybe I'm just daydreaming and the answer to all of the above is no but I'm still early in the grieving process, somewhere between denial and anger rather than depression, let alone acceptance.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48668199

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48651675

[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1ueidyv/software_engineers_are_facing_an_identity_crisis/

[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1ufed4k/software_engineers_are_facing_an_existential/

[5] https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1uew891/older_tech_workers_are_tapping_out_taking_early/

Comments

PaulHoule•2h ago

There certainly are places that have a “no agentic AI” policy because they don’t want code leaving the premises.

I don’t let LinkedIn bring me down, I mean the performative normality is so cringe that I don’t feel embarrassed at all to have a profile pic there wearing fox ears. On a normal social network you hear a ‘ding’ sound because somebody liked your post, LinkedIn makes a ‘ding’ whenever I post something. It has embraced A.I. slop and slop about A.I. because the average user otherwise wouldn’t post anything at all. That’s how they can tell me I’m one of the most visible users and need to be verified.

codingdave•1h ago

> where voicing dissent can have real-world consequences for your job and future employability

Yes. But have you considered that one of those consequences could be that companies who are not pushing AI will see that and give you an interview.

If you have criteria that would make you reject a job, regardless of how unpopular it might be, you should be shouting it form the rooftops. Any company who chooses not to engage with you because of it is saving you time and energy. Any application that gets no response because of it saves you from an interview process that would have failed, or worse - a job you would have hated. Which means that anyone who is engaging with you for interviews already knows your opinion and they are OK with it.

BTW, I'm not sure your opinion is unpopular. The concept of the "vocal minority" seems to be at play these days, as for every dev I know and work with who is positive about AI, 2 others are negative about it.

reinhardt•44m ago

This sounds great in theory, in practice the number of companies hiring is not infinite and it comes down to supply vs demand for your criteria. Being a vocal contrarian may be a good strategy if the contrarian take is shared by say 20% of companies but probably less so if it's 2%.

> The concept of the "vocal minority" seems to be at play these days, as for every dev I know and work with who is positive about AI, 2 others are negative about it.

Oh I am aware it's unpopular with a growing fraction of devs. The question is whether this sentiment can tip the balance for companies and hiring decisions too, similarly to how COVID tipped the balance for remote/hybrid work in a way it was inconceivable before.