We live in strange times

We live in very strange and uncertain times. Within the last year I have gone from just tinkering with AI, to using it as a core part of my dev workflow. Large language models have gotten really good at doing a version of what you tell them. The challenge now is simply deciding what. Much of what I do now is working at the architectural level and verifying that the output is sound.

Will my job even exist in the next five years? I am not sure. Currently there is still a massive advantage being a senior engineer, and I can do much more than I did before. But I am not completely convinced that this advantage will remain.

So what should we be doing? Where are the moats? I think as long as we can keep connecting with people and solving problems that they are willing to pay for there will be a need for us. I think the real challenge for us developers is the connecting part: How do we reach people? Going forwards we really need to work on our marketing skills if we are going to survive. It is the human-to-human connections that will be the real moat.