I’m starting to see more and more around me that python programming is a necessity in a wider range of jobs, from distant domains like law and accounting to closely related fields such as data analysis. Obviously, this is because of LLMs which apparently makes the barrier of entry into programming a lot lower.

This is done at the expense of the job satisfactions of these LLM programmers. What I see is a painful continuous daily banging of heads against the chatGPT wall. They ask for a programming solution and the LLM gives an answer which is 90% there, but doesn’t actually work, and then they copy the error into chatGPT, which again gives a wrong answer and then again and again. The AI could fix the current issue, but it will break 2 other things. One step forward, two steps back. Not interested in learning python, the LLM programmer cannot escape the loop. Which leads to frustration and a lower job satisfaction for many.

Programming is a skill, not knowledge, and can’t be learned like you learn about WW2. It is a craft, learned through practice, not a theory to be memorized. You need to learn programming by doing it with your hands many months, which is time that the LLM programmer doesn’t have.

AI does help mid and senior software engineers, who know how to get from 90% to 100% by themselves, but it is a frustrating tool for junior developers.