[dosinga]

The counter argument (not mine): Software Engineers are willing to spend their own money on AI. The same people that wouldn't pay 10 dollars for code if there was a workaround that took hours.

[simianwords]

I did a thought experiment: if you went back to 2019 and could use AI in your job at the current market price - like lets say using the latest Deepseek V4, would you pay for it?

Hell yeah obviously. There's close to no doubt. So why do we think its not true now?

[graydsl]

Am I the only one that has AI or does everyone? If everyone has it what is the thought experiment? Why 2019?

[righthand]

The same people that laugh at you when you mention paying for Kagi or alternative to an advertising supported web.

[dosinga]

Yes! It's a great addition to the argument

[Forgeties79]

> Software Engineers are willing to spend their own money on AI.

Unless you’re a freelancer you should never pay for your tools. You’re literally paying your company to do their work. If they want the benefits of an LLM they can pay for it. Otherwise they get what you came with: your hands and skills.

[dosinga]

The company I work for pays for my tokens, but I find enough joy in doing weekend projects supercharged by AI to chip in myself too

[nubg]

Interesting perspective