Useful perspective from software engineering?

[Tom Gally]

In our discussions last week, I mentioned the blogger Simon Willison, who writes about AI and related topics. A few days ago, he posted a note titled “Why I don’t feel threatened as a software engineer.” An excerpt:

My perspective on this as a developer who’s been using these systems on a daily basis for a couple of years now is that I find that they enhance my value. I am so much more competent and capable as a developer because I’ve got these tools assisting me. ... But I still get to benefit from my 20 years of experience.

The full post:

https://simonwillison.net/2025/Mar/2/accessibility-and-gen-ai/#not-a-threat

To judge from the many heated discussions about AI on Hacker News, Willison may be in the minority among software engineers. Most, it seems, either do feel threatened by AI, or believe that AI is worthless for their work.

I wonder if Willison’s perspective might be useful for translators, editors, and writers.

Tom Gally