The posts that say "I don’t feel like a developer anymore" are not about AI. They’re about your boss reading one thread on LinkedIn and deciding everyone on the team needs to completely change how they work.
I often see this confused. Programmers who voice existential dread are mixed up with "anti-AI luddites." However, if you look at the conversations carefully, it’s not about "this tool exists." It’s more about "my manager mandated this tool for everything, and now my work is meaningless."
The real complaint isn't about Copilot
A post that went viral entitled “Don’t feel like a developer anymore after AI” has received thousands of responses across developer communities. The feeling is widespread. People are saying they’ve been reduced to monitoring and checking AI work.
But here's what I notice in those threads. The devs who feel worst aren't the ones experimenting with AI on their own terms. They're the ones whose managers mandated AI-first workflows without asking what problems actually needed solving.
