Prologue My name is Alexey, and I’ve been building software for almost half of my life - around 14 years now. I’ve seen my share of hype cycles, panics, and so-called “revolutions.” And today, we’re facing a new one: LLMs, artificial intelligence, GPT, Copilot, Cursor, Replit, Midjourney, Claude... the list grows weekly. And let me be clear from the start: this is not a revolution. It’s an evolution. And above all - it’s a prosthetic, not a threat. this is not a revolution. It’s an evolution. prosthetic A New Tool, the Same Old Fear Every wave of technology follows the same emotional trajectory: Excitement
Panic
Nostalgia and resistance
Then: normalization Excitement Panic Nostalgia and resistance Then: normalization When the internet arrived, people said, “kids don’t go to the library anymore.” When search engines emerged, some said, “students can’t do real research.” When smartphones showed up, schools panicked. Now it’s happening again - just with stronger tools. LLMs are ultra-powerful search engines. They’re console assistants. They’re code generators. They’re conversation partners. They are prosthetics for knowledge work, not autonomous agents of doom. prosthetics for knowledge work Competition Never Left This isn’t about AI. This is about competition, same as always. competition Those who adapt - survive. Those who cling - fall behind. It’s not a new threat. It’s the same Darwinian pressure in a shinier shell. When computers became mainstream, those who embraced them became rare and valuable professionals. Now, it’s the same story - just with a new skill: learning to use AI as part of your daily workflow. learning to use AI as part of your daily workflow My Journey I’m a skeptic. Always have been. At first, I dismissed all this as marketing fluff - another SaaS trap, another corporate gimmick. And yet here I am, a person who wrote two production libraries in a language I still don’t fully understand - thanks to LLMs. I’m a vibe coder. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about implementation details. Quite the opposite: I fully understand how things work under the hood - but I also know that’s not the main focus anymore. It’s about solving the right problem, architecting the right thing, delivering the right impact. fully understand that’s not the main focus anymore LLMs let me operate at a higher level. Less keystroke, more insight. They free up my energy for what matters. A Real Story: From Design to Code in Minutes Recently, I wanted to design a simple Swift UI screen. Now, I’ve been in product development for over a decade - but I’m no designer. I understand user problems, I know how to formalize and solve them. But color, layout, composition? Total blind spot. So I looked for tools. And I found a chain: I prototyped a design using tools made for designers. Then, using an MCP server, I connected that flow to Cursor. In under 3 minutes, it generated a working UI screen. I compiled it in Xcode. It ran. Done. 3 minutes This would’ve taken me a day before. Now? It’s breakfast work. No Panic, Just Learn That’s the point: don’t panic - learn. don’t panic - learn The market didn’t really push people to learn for the last 10 years. But now it does. And it’s not punishment - it’s a reset. If you’ve been growing all this time, you’ll go faster. If you haven’t - it’s time to catch up. But don’t blame AI. The pressure was always there. The panic isn’t about the tool. It’s about the shift. The panic isn’t about the tool. It’s about the shift. Will There Be “LLM Engineers”? I see the trend - new titles like “AI Architect,” “LLM Operator,” or “Prompt Engineer.” Maybe someday they’ll become formal roles. But today? It’s all too young. Too early. Right now, if you’re a strong engineer, designer, or manager, then the AI is just that - your assistant. Maybe, one day, we’ll be radically transformed. But for now, we’re simply evolving. strong engineer, designer, or manager your assistant Looking Forward Some countries are experimenting with 6-hour days, 4-day workweeks. Maybe, just maybe, these tools will help us work less, but do far more. And that means more time - for study, for rest, for family, for meaning. far more That’s the direction the world wants to go. And I want to believe in that future. The End (but Not Really) I used to roll my eyes. I used to think it was all marketing. And now? I can’t imagine building without it. Don’t wear your avoidance as a badge of honor. Saying “I’ve never used ChatGPT” isn’t a flex - it’s a missed opportunity. This is not a threat. It’s not magic. It’s just a better tool. just a better tool And like every other tool in the history of work - it belongs in the hands of those who are ready to build. it belongs in the hands of those who are ready to build.

The is an opinion piece based on the author’s POV and does not necessarily reflect the views of HackerNoon.

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