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AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

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Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#261

Post by mjr00 »

codegeek wrote: post #130
mjr00 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to university 2005-2008 and I was advised by many people at the time to not go into computer science. The reasoning was that outsourced software developers in low-cost regions like India and SEA would destroy salaries, and software developers should not expect to make more than $50k/year due to the competition. Even more recently we had this with radiologists, a profession that was supposed to be crushed by de…

My take is that these are not binary issues. With outsourcing, it is true that you can hire someone cheaper in Asian countries but it cannot kill all jobs locally. So what happens is that the absolute average/mediocre get replaced by outsourcing and now with AI while the top talent can still command a good salary because they are worth it. So I think that a lot of juniors WILL get replaced by AI not because they are…

> So I think that a lot of juniors WILL get replaced by AI not because they are junior necessarily but because a lot of them won't be able to add great value compared to a default AI and companies care about getting the best value from their workers. A junior who understands this and does more than the bare minimum will stand out while the rest will get replaced.

Again this is what people said about outsourced developers. 2008 logic was, why would anyone hire a junior for $50k/year when you could hire a senior with 20 years experience for $10k/year from India?

Reality: for 5+ years you could change careers by taking a 3-6 month JavaScript bootcamp and coming out the other end with a $150k job lined up. That's just how in demand software development was.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#262

Post by simonw »

GeoAtreides wrote: post #156
simonw wrote: post #7

Relevant post by Kent Beck from 12th Dec 2025: The Bet On Juniors Just Got Better https://tidyfirst.substack.com/p/the-bet-on-juniors-just-got... > The juniors working this way compress their ramp dramatically. Tasks that used to take days take hours. Not because the AI does the work, but because the AI collapses the search space. Instead of spending three hours figuring out which API to use, they spend twenty minute…

>but because the genie, used well, accelerates learning. This is "the kids will use the AI to learn and understand" level of cope no, the kids will copy and paste the solution then go back to their preferred dopamine dispenser

Right, and they won't get hired beyond their internship.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#263

Post by Xelbair »

reactordev wrote: post #253
rsanek wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"without losing face"? What culture are you referring to? The Western companies I have worked at do not discourage such questions -- in fact, it's often the sign of someone very senior when they ask a seemingly 'dumb' question that others have taken for granted.

Company culture. Some companies I worked for would fire you for questioning decisions. Others, welcomed criticism. You don’t really know which environment you’re in until someone says something. Are you going to take the risk and be the first?

Yes, because i would rather not work at such company and go somewhere else.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#264

Post by reop2whiskey »

alecco wrote: post #88

Meanwhile: "Amazon announces $35 billion investment in India by 2030 to advance AI innovation, create jobs" https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-35-bill... (Dec 9 2025)

oh so CEO is probably referring to using AI to replace foreign junior devs is a bad idea. Domestic junior dev replacement is ok though

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#266

Post by alwa »

deepGem wrote: post #235
alexgotoi wrote: post #192

The thing people miss in these “replace juniors with AI” takes is that juniors were never mainly about cheap hands on keyboards. They’re the only people in the org who are still allowed to ask “dumb” questions without losing face, and those questions are often the only signal you get that your abstractions are nonsense. What AI does is remove a bunch of the humiliating, boring parts of being junior: hunting for the r…

What will eventually pan out is that senior devs will be replaced with junior devs powered by AI assistants. Simply because of the reasons you stated. They will ask the dumb important questions and then after a while, will even solve for them. Now that their minds are free from routine and boilerplate work, they will start asking more 'whys' which will be very good for the organization overall. Take any product - nea…

How do you suppose the old guard are filling their days now?

At some level, aren’t you describing the age-old process of maturing from junior to mid level to senior in most lines of work, and in most organizations? Isn’t that what advancing in responsibility boils down to: developing subtlety and wisdom and political credibility and organizational context? Learning where the rakes are?

I wish 3 months, or even 3 years, were long enough to fully understand the whys and wherefores and politics of the organizations I cross paths with, and the jungle of systems and code supporting all the kinds of work that happen inside…

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#267

Post by dejj »

alexgotoi wrote: post #192

The thing people miss in these “replace juniors with AI” takes is that juniors were never mainly about cheap hands on keyboards. They’re the only people in the org who are still allowed to ask “dumb” questions without losing face, and those questions are often the only signal you get that your abstractions are nonsense. What AI does is remove a bunch of the humiliating, boring parts of being junior: hunting for the r…

Agree.

> cargo-culting Stack Overflow

What do you mean by this? I understand “cargo-culting” as building false idols, e.g. wooden headphones and runways to attract airplanes that never come.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#268

Post by bigstrat2003 »

beAbU wrote: post #128
simonw wrote: post #7

Relevant post by Kent Beck from 12th Dec 2025: The Bet On Juniors Just Got Better https://tidyfirst.substack.com/p/the-bet-on-juniors-just-got... > The juniors working this way compress their ramp dramatically. Tasks that used to take days take hours. Not because the AI does the work, but because the AI collapses the search space. Instead of spending three hours figuring out which API to use, they spend twenty minute…

Isn't the struggling with docs and learning how and where to find the answers part of the learning process? I would argue a machine that short circuits the process of getting stuck in obtuse documentation is actually harmful long term...

Yes, it is. And yes, it absolutely is harmful.

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#269

Post by mikrl »

iwontberude wrote: post #236
47928485 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My recommendation to mid-level, senior, and staff engineers is to keep questioning decisions and create a culture where that’s encouraged. Tell me you've never worked at FAANG without telling me you've never worked at FAANG...

Usually the people who question decisions are shot down because they don’t have a wholistic understanding of the decision and (respectfully) don’t have good arguments. This is only because they are focused on some narrow aspect of the business which distorts or reduces their visibility and understanding.

> This is only because they are focused on some narrow aspect of the business

Is this a bad thing though? If some technical decision has downside risk, I’d reasonably expect:

- the affected stakeholder to bring it up

- the decision maker to assuage the stakeholder’s concern (happy path) or triage and escalate

Re: AWS CEO says replacing junior devs with AI is 'one of the dumbest ideas'

#270

Post by boston_clone »

andrewmutz wrote: post #245
rsanek wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"without losing face"? What culture are you referring to? The Western companies I have worked at do not discourage such questions -- in fact, it's often the sign of someone very senior when they ask a seemingly 'dumb' question that others have taken for granted.

Completely agree with this. I got to work closely with an IBM fellow one summer and I was impressed by his willingness to ask "dumb questions" in meetings. Sometimes he was just out of the loop but more often he was just questioning some of the assumptions that others in the room had left unquestioned.

Unfortunately, I found that the culture of "think." at IBM is not matched at many other organizations. Most days, I miss it.

But forced RTO and only 10 days off per year is enough to keep me away ;)

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