AI tools create a significant productivity boost for developers. Different folks report different gains, but most people who try AI code generation recognize its ability to increase velocity. Many people think that means we’re going to need fewer developers, and our industry is going to slowly circle the drain.
This view is based on a misunderstanding of why people pay for software. A business creates software because they think that it will give them some sort of economic advantage. The investment needs to pay for itself with interest. There are many software projects that would help a business, but businesses aren’t going to do them because the return on investment doesn’t make sense.
When software development becomes more efficient, the ROI of any given software project increases, which unlocks more projects. [...] Cheaper software means people are going to want more of it. More software means more jobs for increasingly efficient software developers.
— Dustin Ewers, Ignore the Grifters - AI Isn't Going to Kill the Software Industry
Recent articles
- Claude can write complete Datasette plugins now - 8th October 2025
- Vibe engineering - 7th October 2025
- OpenAI DevDay 2025 live blog - 6th October 2025