Feeling Sad about AI: A Programmer's Identity Crisis and Self-Reconciliation

Feeling Sad about AI

Andy Balaam writes about his sadness over AI—not job loss, but the disrespect he feels toward programming as a craft. He built his identity and self-worth through coding; now some in the industry call it obsolete. He admits he was late to notice how other professions have long been disrespected, but ultimately tells himself: no one can take away his love for programming. For learners, he argues that even if AI predictions come true, people who understand code will remain valuable—just as compilers didn't make machine-code knowledge irrelevant. The post contains no model names or technical details; it's a personal reflection.