This happened to painters and illustrators a few years earlier than programmers.

People used to think detailed drawing and realistic painting were kinds of unachievable wizardry. Now they go on ChatGPT or Midjourney and press a button. Professionals despair at the slop results, but they’re good enough for most people.

I try to think of this positively as a transition similar to the invention of photography. The bourgeois classes used to need artists to paint pictures of themselves and their daughters. The camera turned portrait creation into a one-button affair. But that actually freed artists to be more creative. Monet and Picasso happened after photography for an obvious reason.