Tech's Dumbest Mistake: Why Firing Programmers for AI Will Destroy Everything

Ah, the tech industry. The same industry that once admired programmers now treats them like relics from a bygone era, like scribes who resist the printing press. Companies believe AI is the solution to everything, and programmers? Well, they’re seen as costly, opinionated, and, worst of all, human. But here's the thing—if you think replacing programmers with AI is a brilliant idea, remember what happened the last time a company fired all its engineers: it led to lawsuits, product failures, and a frantic rehiring spree. But sure, go ahead. Lay them off. You’ll regret it faster than you can say "syntax error."

Let’s break this down clearly. Three things are about to happen, and none of them are good forcompanies that think AI will replace programmers:

1. The New Generation of Programmers Will Be Less Prepared

In the past, aspiring programmers learned by tackling real problems—fixing code, breaking systems, and gaining insights from experienced veterans who had faced countless production crises. They learned how to optimize performance, handle tricky hardware bugs, and most importantly, how to think like an engineer, not just type words into a compiler.

But with the AI craze, companies aren't investing in junior developers. Why train people when a model can churn out boilerplate code? Why mentor young engineers when AI promises to handle everything?

Spoiler alert: this is a terrible idea.

The next generation of programmers will grow up expecting AI to do the hard parts for them. They won't know why an algorithm is slow, they won't be able to debug cryptic race conditions (if they're even familiar with the concept), and they certainly won't know how to build resilient systems that can withstand real-world chaos. It's like teaching kids to drive but only letting them use Teslas on autopilot—one day, the software will fail, and they'll have no idea how to handle it.

The result? We'll have a whole wave of programmers who are more like AI operators than real engineers. And when companies realize AI isn't magic, just a bunch of tokenized words in line (prove me wrong on that), they'll scramble to find actual programmers who know what they're doing. Too bad they spent years not hiring them.

2. Companies That Replace Programmers with AI Will Regret It Sooner or Later

Imagine a company that fires its software engineers, replaces them with AI-generated code, and then expects everything to work perfectly. This is like getting rid of your entire fire department because you installed more smoke detectors. It's fine until the first real fire happens.

Suppose you're a big fintech company. You let go of half your development team because "AI can write code." Now, six months later, you discover that your AI-generated software is full of security flaws. Oops! Your database is leaking private financial data, regulators are pressuring you, and customers are leaving faster than rats on a sinking ship. The AI that wrote your software? It doesn't care. It doesn't fix bugs. It doesn't "own" the problem. It just creates more broken code, like a toddler smashing LEGO bricks together and calling it a house.

What do you do? You try to rehire the programmers you laid off. But guess what? They've moved on. The good ones are at startups or working on their own projects. Some are consulting for high fees. Now your company is stuck with AI-generated messy code and no one to fix it.

3. Serious Programmers Will Be Even Rarer (and More Expensive)

Now, let's talk about the real winners in all this: the programmers who saw the chaos coming and chose not to join in. These are the ones who didn't take jobs at big tech companies but instead focused on systems programming, AI interpretability, or high-performance computing. They truly understand technology at a level that AI can't match.

And guess what? They're about to become very expensive. Companies will soon realize that AI can't replace experienced engineers. But by then, there will be fewer of them. Many will have started their own businesses, some will be deeply involved in niche fields, and others will simply be too busy (or too wealthy) to care about your struggling software department.

Want to hire them back? You'd better have deep pockets and a lot of luck. The few serious programmers left will charge rates that make executives cringe. And even if you manage to hire them, they won't stay to play corporate politics or deal with unnecessary middle managers. They'll fix your broken systems, send you a hefty invoice, and walk away.