I wouldn't say they're completely incapable.
* They can spot (and fix) low hanging fruit instantly
* They will also "fix" things that were left out there for a reason and break things completely
* even if the code base fits entirely in their context window, as does the complete company knowledge base, including Slack conversations etc., the proposed solutions sometimes take a very strange turn, in spite of being correct 57.8% of the time.
Today's AI systems are the worst they'll ever be. If AI is already capable of doing something, you should expect it to become more capable of it in the future.
Even a broken clock is right two times a day.
The question is reliability.
What worked today may not work tomorrow and vice versa.
Like when a relationship is obviously over. Some people enjoy the ending fleeting moments while others delude themselves that they just have to get over the hump and things will go back to normal.
I suspect a lot of the denial is from the 30 something CRUD app lottery winner. One of the smart kids all through school, graduated into a ripping CRUD app job market and then if they didn't even feel the 2022 downturn, they now see themselves as irreplaceable CRUD app genius. Something understandable since the environment has never signaled anything to the contrary until now.
I'm a systems/embedded/GUI dev with 25 years of C++ etc., and nearly every day I'm happy and grateful to be the last generation to get really proficient before AI tools made us all super dependant and lazy.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure people will find other ways to remain productive and stand out from each other - just a new normal -, but I'm still glad all that mental exercise and experience can't be taken away from me.
I'm more compelled to figure out how I can contribute to making sure younger colleagues learn all the right stuff and treat their brains with self-respect than I feel any need to "save my own ass" or have any fears about the job changing.
