[hn_throwaway_99]

I don't think many of us are questioning the real spend going into AI - it's the return on that spend that we're wondering about.

[weird-eye-issue]

There is pretty concrete published data that shows trends in less hiring for roles that are easily replaced by AI such as content writers and front-end developers

Personally I let go a developer I was using because I only had them around for front end work and now I'm much more productive just doing that with Claude Code directly

So the returns for the average business are largely due to less employee and contractors spending

[overfeed]

> There is pretty concrete published data that shows trends in less hiring

Is there any concrete evidence that lower hiring is due to AI, and not due to some other factor - such as a stalling economy? I suspect AI growth is the only thing currently staving off a full-blown recession.

[weird-eye-issue]

I alluded to it in my comment but let me make it even more clear

There is significantly less hiring for roles that AI can replace easily compared to roles that it can't replace easily

If there was decreased hiring simply because of the economy then why would it only be impacting certain job roles? Hmm... Mystery...

[tovej]

Have you given thought to the fact that there is an overlap between "jobs easily replaced by AI" and "jobs that are easy to consolidate into existing roles", or even "non-essential jobs"?

[weird-eye-issue]

> jobs that are easy to consolidate into existing roles

I think you are on to something here. AI is what gives people the ability to consolidate many roles into one.

Like in my example, when I fired my front-end developer, I now can easily do that task.

Or, a marketing generalist can now create blog posts using ChatGPT instead of needing to also have a content writer

To your point about "non-essential": "Front-end development" is not necessarily something I would consider non-essential, but maybe "front-end developer" is now. Something to think about

[tovej]

If you're vibe coding a front end, you're going to run into issues with technical debt eventually, so that's a very short sighted way to handle things.

Or if you do have the technical skill for front-end work, you could have done it without the AI.

I do doubt this, however, because AI assisted programming does not increase productivity for skilled workers as much according to studies.