Being able to program isn't the end game of critical thinking. Programming languages are just a way of representing the processes. The thinking underneath was always more important, and there's now technically more time freed up to focus on that.
Billions of people now have access to tools which will aid them in reasoning through complex problems without needing a $100k CS degree. Of course some people are using LLMs to get recipe inspiration, but others are now empowered to do things which were impossible for them before.
I personally think the alarm ringers are mainly the privileged elite who are scared of their moats beyond filled in. LLMs have effectively broken down the gates of access to knowledge. In a diverse world, having more people being empowered to do more things has to be a net positive.
Being able to program isn't the end game of critical thinking. Programming languages are just a way of representing the processes. The thinking underneath was always more important, and there's now technically more time freed up to focus on that. Billions of people now have access to tools which will aid them in reasoning through complex problems without needing a $100k CS degree. Of course some people are using LLMs to get recipe inspiration, but others are now empowered to do things which were impossible for them before.
I personally think the alarm ringers are mainly the privileged elite who are scared of their moats beyond filled in. LLMs have effectively broken down the gates of access to knowledge. In a diverse world, having more people being empowered to do more things has to be a net positive.