Writing code is not the hard part and never has been. The hard part is having a clear understanding of how to solve a specific complex problem and being able to express that intent in code. Getting a decently exposed image was never the hard part.

Finally, there’s no scaling issues with cameras. You just make them better until it stops making economic sense. This is not true with code. To make llms better, good human-made code is needed for training. Better llms lead to less human-made code being available. This means there’s not an exponential growth in quality but a S-curve with a balance point. I’d say we are already there: innovation is shifting from the models to the ways of harnessing the models.

The system is, that if you make unfortunate choices (such as moving away from your support network and carrying your life savings where you can forget them) and do not have anything (such as skills or low morals) to compensate, life is going to be hard. That has always been the case, that will always be the case. What the consequential decisions are, differs. But the basic premise of “f around and find out” holds.