Panicking Software Engineer

Reddit r/singularity News

Summary

A software engineer expresses anxiety about job security in the face of rapid AI advancements, fearing potential unemployment and financial instability.

If you are a 30-45 year old software engineer, what the fuck are you supposed to even do to make sure you stay employed? I’m 36, only 4 years of experience (career switcher with a CS degree from working in restaurants). I’m in debt, don’t have any money saved or invested. I didn’t worry that much before about money because I figured I’d get a high paying dev job at some point and make a lot for at least 15-20 years. And now I can’t even focus on leetcoding to try and get a better paying job because it all feels so fucking pointless. Like even if I get a high paying job, there’s no way software engineers are needed in large numbers in 5 years or less. Like what the fuck can I even do to make sure I don’t go homeless? I’m honestly freaking out because these models are getting insanely good and much faster than I think most people anticipated. People will say shit like “oh well you still need to know architecture blah blah” or “oh it’s too expensive” and I really don’t think you either are even true today, let alone in a couple years. It’s mainly people trying to delude themselves into thinking their jobs are safe but they’re not safe at all.
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