AI coding pays off for $100k engineers but breaks sweatshop economics at <$500/month wages
kingslyj · x · 2026-10-14
Arguing about AI coding ROI, kingslyj notes "costly" is relative to wages: with engineers at $60–120k/year, a $1,000/month AI bill is cheap — 25–50% productivity boost for 10–20% higher costs. But for outsourcing shops in Chennai/Tenkasi paying under $500/month, even a $500 AI bill means 100%+ cost increases. He says a chief scientist complaining AI coding is "costly" is really mourning an exploitative low-wage business model becoming unviable.
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