If You're Afraid of AI Replacing Developers, You're Missing the Bigger Economic Reality

Despite growing fears that AI will automate software development, the economics and realities of modern software suggest the opposite. Most consumer software is already free, and AI mainly benefits the developers who build and maintain complex systems. While large language models dramatically increase productivity, they also introduce new layers of complexity across infrastructure, security, and architecture. As code becomes easier and cheaper to produce, the Jevons Paradox kicks in: organizations simply build more software. Rather than eliminating developers or SaaS, AI is becoming another component of the software stack—one that ultimately expands the amount of work to be done.