A widely shared X post from a software engineer ignited fresh arguments in tech by depicting an AI-saturated job wherein developers mainly approved machine outputs.
Here's what to know
The engineer called his new software job "soul-sucking," saying Claude Code was handling product specifications, tests, tickets, and reports.
According to Business Insider, the post drew nearly 5 million views and fueled debate over whether artificial intelligence coding tools are improving output or draining the substance from engineering work.
"Nobody knows anything here," the engineer wrote. "... People are working 12 to 13 hours a day just to press enter."
He said the company was focused on shipping as much as possible even though employees had little time to inspect the work or understand how it functioned behind the scenes.
"Nobody is thinking anymore," he wrote.
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High-profile commenters quickly weighed in. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, "Yikes," per Business Insider, and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya warned that companies could turn a generation of technical experts into people "pushing a button in front of casino slot machines."
More background
Among workplace uses for AI, coding emerged early as a major proving ground, with tools from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and others writing code, debugging programs, and completing multistep tasks.
Some developers see that shift as a way to spend less time on repetitive work. Others say their jobs are increasingly centered on checking AI-generated outputs instead of solving problems themselves.
In speaking with Business Insider, the engineer argued that the problem is the way companies define success.
"Writing code was never the bottleneck; it was the systems around it," he said in an email.
In his view, management treats sprint cycles, pull requests, and the volume of shipped features as the signs of progress, even when those additions do not improve products for users.
Menlo Ventures partner Deedy Das has described an "identity crisis bordering on depression" among engineers who are increasingly being asked to review AI-generated code rather than write it.
What's being done?
"The value of automated software is not making the software faster," Palihapitiya wrote, per Business Insider. "It is understanding your intention and making the software BETTER."
GitLab CEO Bill Staples said, "The human has become the orchestration layer for the machines."
"If you take that away from us, there is nothing left," the engineer told Business Insider. "Not even our soul. There will be no purpose."
Where can I learn more?
The debate over AI coding is part of a broader fight over how these tools are changing work and the economy.
• Public anger over AI's expanding footprint has spread from jobs to power grids.
• Geoffrey Hinton warned that the future of work could be reshaped by AI.
• One investor called AI's impact on employment terrifying as automation fears intensify.
• AI executives said most corporate AI efforts still are not generating revenue.
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