LLM coding assistants didn't create a split between craft-lovers and make-it-go developers. They revealed one that was always there.
For craft-lovers, what's being bypassed isn't the output but the act itself. Marx called this separation from the act of production. But the alienation isn't coming from the LLM. It's coming from a market that penalizes whoever produces output more slowly.
@hongminhee so, I guess this is true, but maybe also the craft changes?
I am old enough to remember when it was common to embed blocks of assembly language in your C code to optimize particular functions or loops. As high level languages grew, that familiarity with hardware architecture has mostly disappeared, but we've developed other skills instead.
When I read @jesse or @simon 's posts about exploring collaboration with LLMs, I see curiosity, creativity and joy in the craft.
@evan Totally agree, and I think that's actually the point the essay is trying to make. The split isn't “LLM users vs. craft lovers” but something more like “people with room to choose how they use the tools vs. people who don't have that room.”
@mitchellh is a good example. He's clearly using LLMs as a craftsperson. So am I, I think. But both of us are in situations where we're not being measured against a colleague's output every quarter. The workplace dynamic is what compresses all of that curiosity and exploration into pure throughput.
The craft probably does survive, just not evenly distributed.
洪 民憙 (Hong Minhee) 
Evan Prodromou