Engineer pushes back on 'everyone will build their own software': de-specialization never happens
jeiting · x · 2026-10-11
A thoughtful thread challenges the popular narrative that AI will let everyone build their own software and steamroll traditional app companies:
- History offers no precedent: cheaper tools (power tools, word processors, cameras) never turned everyone into furniture makers, publishers, or artists — humans have never de-specialized.
- Consumers are consumers: most people lack the agency to dictate requirements to models, and aligned models can't say no ("You're absolutely right!"), so taste and alignment may be incompatible.
- Nothing ever happens: software will evolve, but people still want expert opinion, novel tools, and the community/identity that products carry.
The author concludes an amplified version of the current trajectory is far more plausible than a full reversal, and invites counterarguments.
Related event: Engineers Push Back on "Everyone Will Build Their Own Software" Narrative(2 posts)→
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