You'll be fine

For decades, a software developer could earn a decent living by merely writing "good enough" code. The speed of implementing this code was the biggest risk, which meant that delighting the end user was an afterthought (if a thought at all). Good code is still necessary—you can't delight in broken software that doesn't do what it's supposed to do. However, in a post-AI age, where generating good-enough code is trivial,¹ software developers will need to adapt to avoid becoming a commodity.

The definition of "craftsmanship" is evolving beyond merely producing good code. Craft now means clients are so delighted that they say, "it feels like a dream" (that's a real quote from a client btw)². In a world overrun by AI, human care has never commanded a higher premium.

For example, at Pilot West Studios, we built Concourse, a Rails engine embedded into our client applications that puts bug reports and client updates right beside the software they use every day. We used time margins that didn't exist pre-AI to build a client experience that demonstrates care and attention to detail.

Those who succeed in this new age are going to be those who stick to timeless principles. You'll be just fine if you put people above profits and craft above code.