Software Engineer Considers Farming as AI Advances

A software engineer with nearly a decade of experience sparked a Reddit debate by considering farming as AI advances; coverage of his post was published October 26, 2026.

By Career Ahead AI · Global — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

The engineer sees AI taking on more software design

The engineer shared his concerns in Reddit’s r/ClaudeCode community, saying he was seriously considering farming or growing his own food. He connected that thought to rapid advances in artificial intelligence and what they could mean for work in software. His post turned a personal career concern into a debate about whether the technology is changing the work people do and how many jobs may remain.^¹²

He wrote that he genuinely felt there would not be many real jobs left in five to ten years. His concern was tied to what AI can already do: he said it can design systems and, in many cases, do a better job than people. He also described the feeling that software engineers were actively building the thing that could make them obsolete. Those were his concerns, rather than a claim that all software work had already disappeared.^¹²³

Reddit replies split between adapting and rethinking work

One Reddit user questioned whether the current structure of work itself needed reconsideration. That response widened the discussion beyond the engineer’s own choice of farming: it raised the question of whether work should remain organised in the same way as AI takes on more tasks. Another commenter offered a more direct answer, arguing that people who embrace AI and run with it will survive. The replies put structural change and individual adaptation side by side.^¹

Reddit replies split between adapting and rethinking work One Reddit user questioned whether the current structure of work itself needed reconsideration.

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A separate post dated January 20, 2026, proposed “AI-assisted Code Engineering,” shortened to ACE, as an alternative to “vibe coding.” OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy introduced the term “vibe coding.” The proposed label frames AI as part of an engineering process. It also shifts the emphasis from a style of coding to the role of experienced engineers using AI tools, a distinction that another post made explicit.^²³

Another post urges programmers to consider other livelihoods

The writer behind the ACE proposal said the approach did not eliminate all software engineers, but enabled experienced engineers. The same writer said examples of productivity from AI-assisted Code Engineering were pouring in. Together, those claims describe a change in how coding work gets done: AI tools can support experienced programmers, while also increasing the amount of work they can produce. The post offered that view alongside concerns about what automation means for paid programming jobs.^²³

In a separate comment, the writer advised people who depend on writing code for a living to start considering alternative livelihoods, and said this included the writer too. The advice was described as calm acceptance and embrace, rather than panic. The writer compared software becoming plentiful to clothing becoming plentiful and cheap, saying weavers did not benefit when that happened. The comparison points to a possible gap between producing more of something and preserving the livelihoods of the people who make it.^¹²

Examples of AI capability fuel both concern and debate

The writer said there was not enough confidence to assert that paid programmer jobs would increase or even remain at their current number. The writer also described an extensive dialogue with Google’s Gemini Pro AI about how artificial intelligence might reshape the economy, comparing the experience to debating an extremely intelligent economic philosopher. The comments show the uncertainty behind the livelihoods warning: the writer raised a possible change in job numbers while discussing wider economic effects.^¹²

Responses to the warning included disagreement, concern and personal contingency planning. One commenter disagreed with the statement; another called it extreme but advised thinking about Plan C and D, saying the next five years would be tough. A further commenter said they had begun considering alternative livelihoods where AI could not reach in the near future, while another predicted rapid change in the next couple of years. The replies did not settle how quickly jobs might change.^¹²

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Examples of AI-assisted work also featured in the discussion of coding’s changing demands. Developer Anish Moonka created a fully functional Bhagavad Gita app within a week despite having no prior coding knowledge, using AI tools from Anthropic and OpenAI. Separately, Anthropic’s Claude AI built a complete C compiler, a complex systems programming task that traditionally requires deep expertise in computer science fundamentals. These examples show AI being used both to create an app without previous coding experience and to tackle a technically demanding programming task.^²³

A further commenter said they had begun considering alternative livelihoods where AI could not reach in the near future, while another predicted rapid change in the next couple of years.

Plan for fewer coding jobs

If you earn by writing code, treat your current role as a temporary advantage, not a permanent one. The ACE proposal frames AI as a tool that enables experienced engineers, and productivity examples are pouring in, but the same writer is not confident paid programmer jobs will increase or stay at today's number. That combination means you should weigh whether your specific work relies on deep expertise AI cannot yet replicate, and ask for pay that reflects that expertise now, before the market shifts.^¹²³

Build a second income path that does not depend on coding. The advice to start considering alternative livelihoods comes with a warning: software will be plentiful, and weavers did not benefit when clothes became plentiful and cheap. One commenter already plans a Plan B where AI cannot reach in the near future, while another says the next five years will be tough. Use that horizon to test a non-coding skill or side venture, and budget for a lean period rather than assuming your current pay holds.^¹²