Naturally, like everybody in the field, I’ve been vibecoding. Making a little garden planner, building a desktop read-it-later app.
As a (non-technical) software development manager who talks to stakeholders every day and understands company strategy and budgets, etc., let me tell you: programmers need to seriously consider going on strike. AI is not going to end well for you unless you take action.
But it can’t handle legacy code!
Sure. Right now, you’re fine. You have a moat. Moat, moat, moat.
But here’s the thing. Moats, historically, as a layer of protection, did not last. If your castle looked promising enough, some enterprising individuals were going to find ways to enter it and eat your gold. Some moats lasted longer than others, but as a whole, moats went out of style.
What can programmers do against the increasing hegemony of the big LLMs? Don’t let them steal your livelihood! Own the means of production. Build a cooperative.
Build a cooperative
Someone should start the ‘Programmer AI Cooperative’.
- Any programmer can buy 1 share in PAC.
- Your share-ownership allows you to use PAC for personal projects.
- PAC learns from your work, and improves through it.
- PAC also sells an enterprise version of its LLM client to companies.
- PAC profits are divided evenly among owners.
- If your company forces you to use Big LLM, go on strike until they pay for PAC.
Clawd/Molt could be this, me thinks.