> But it's not satisfying to stay at that level of ignorance very long
That's the difference. This is how you feel because you like programming to some extent. Having worked closely with them, I can tell you there are many people going into bootcamps that flat out dislike programming and just heard it pays well. Some of them get jobs, but they don't want to learn anything. They just want to do as much that doesn't get them fired. They are not curious even with tasks they are supposed to do.
I don't think this is inherently wrong, as I don't feel like gatekeeping the profession if their bosses feel they add value. But this is a classic case of losing the junior > expert pipeline. We could easily find ourselves in a spot in 30 years where AI coding is rampant but there's no experts to actually know what it does.
There have been people entering the profession for (purported) money and not love of the craft for at least as long as the 20 years I've been in it. So long as there are also people who still genuinely enjoy it and take pride in doing the job well, then the junior->expert pipeline isn't lost.
I buy that LLMs may shift the proportion of those two camps. But doubt it will really eliminate those who genuinely love building things with code.
I'm not sure it takes more than a shift, though. There aren't 0 people in training to be a doctor, but we have a shortage for sure and it causes huge problems.
That's the difference. This is how you feel because you like programming to some extent. Having worked closely with them, I can tell you there are many people going into bootcamps that flat out dislike programming and just heard it pays well. Some of them get jobs, but they don't want to learn anything. They just want to do as much that doesn't get them fired. They are not curious even with tasks they are supposed to do.
I don't think this is inherently wrong, as I don't feel like gatekeeping the profession if their bosses feel they add value. But this is a classic case of losing the junior > expert pipeline. We could easily find ourselves in a spot in 30 years where AI coding is rampant but there's no experts to actually know what it does.