He used chess as an example: 15 to 20 years ago, a human checking AI's output could beat an AI or a human playing alone. Now, AI can beat people without that layer of human supervision. Amodei, who cofounded AI lab Anthropic in 2021, added that the same transition would happen in software engineering. "We're already in our centaur phase for software," Amodei said. "During that centaur phase, if anything, the demand for software engineers may go up. But the period may be very brief."
Demand for coders has collapsed. Up until this year, programming has been considered one of the most secure, predictable, and lucrative career options. But now, we're seeing reports that employment for programmers has collapsed to its lowest level since 1980. On the surface, the connection is obvious. AI agents are able to write code and do so much faster and cheaper than professional programmers. Code is structured text, something AIs are particularly well-suited to understand and reproduce.
AI is changing work, and Anthropic studied its own staff to learn exactly how. In a blog post published on Tuesday, Anthropic shared the findings of its August research study, which surveyed 132 of its engineers and researchers, had 53 detailed interviews, and examined the internal use of Claude Code, Anthropic's agentic coding tool. The study aimed to understand how AI is transforming work at the company and society more broadly.
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian says AI isn't here to replace you - it's here to help you keep up. In an interview with the tech newsletter Big Technology, Kurian dismissed the hype that AI will automate so much work that it will cost everyone their jobs. He said AI's role for the foreseeable future is to bridge the gap between what workers can do today and what they aspire to do in the future. "I think there is definitely a middle ground," he said.
OpenAI's GPT-5 model marks a significant upgrade in coding and creative writing. However, it still lacks crucial elements needed for true AGI, including continuous learning.
