OpenAI was the first company to introduce AI to the world and now, one of its top executive is feeling sad about letting AI do his work. This is not at all surprising. AI is changing how software is built, but the transition is not always easy for the people who spent years mastering the craft of writing code. As AI tools become capable of generating and fixing programs on their own, even some of the leaders driving this transformation say they are struggling to emotionally detach from a skill that once defined their careers. Bret Taylor, who is the chairman of OpenAI, spoke about this dilemma during a conversation on the “Cheeky Pint” podcast hosted by John Collison. While AI systems are becoming increasingly capable of handling programming tasks, Taylor admitted that stepping away from writing code himself has not been easy.
OpenAI Chairman says he is struggling to step away from coding
During the podcast, Taylor explained that he is trying to adapt to a future where engineers may rely more on AI tools rather than writing every line of code manually. However, he acknowledged that the adjustment has been difficult on a personal level.
“I am trying to get to a world where I’m not writing code,” Taylor said. “It’s hard, emotionally, if that makes any sense. I have a hard time not caring.”
For many software engineers, coding is not simply a technical task but a craft developed over years of practice. Taylor said he used to take pride in how carefully written code could solve complex problems in an elegant way.
“I was proud of the elegance of the code that I wrote,” he said. “But if I still care about the craftsmanship, what do I want? I haven’t quite visualized it yet.” He added that he still values accuracy and reliability in the programs being created, but is trying to rethink how attached he should be to writing code himself.
“I’ve been trying to force myself to not care because I feel like I won’t be a self-actualized software engineer in the future if I’m too precious about that artifact which used to be so central to me,” Taylor said.
Anthropic executive says AI tools are changing software engineering jobs
Taylor’s comments come at a time when AI systems are becoming increasingly capable of handling programming tasks that once required skilled engineers. Tools that generate code, test it, and identify bugs are already being used across the technology industry.
Boris Cherny, who built an AI coding agent at Anthropic, recently suggested that the role of traditional software engineers may evolve dramatically in the coming years.
“I think today coding is practically solved for me, and I think it’ll be the case for everyone regardless of domain,” Cherny said. According to him, this change could eventually change how technology companies define engineering roles. “I think we’re going to start to see the title ‘software engineer’ go away,” he added.
Instead of spending most of their time writing code, engineers are said to focus more on tasks such as defining product requirements, designing systems, or working directly with users while AI systems handle the implementation, Business Insider reported. Some developers say this change is already visible inside teams, where AI tools generate large portions of software while engineers review, adjust, or debug the output.
The growing reliance on AI has also sparked debate among developers about the long-term future of programming as a hands-on skill. Some compare manual coding to traditional craftsmanship that could become less common in an automated environment.
