Carson Gross: programming remains a viable career despite the rise of AI
What happened
On 9 October 2026, Simon Willison reported on Carson Gross's views about AI tools and the future of programming as a career. Gross argues that programming fundamentally involves two things: solving problems with computers, and controlling complexity while solving them. He says it is hard to imagine that mastering these two abilities will become less valuable than it is today, so programming will remain a viable career even as AI tools rise. The report does not mention earlier related arguments or any contradicting views.
Written by AI from the reports · updated 7 d ago
Timeline
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- Simon WillisonQuoting Carson Gross
Carson Gross argues that programming is fundamentally about two things: solving problems with computers and learning to control complexity while doing so. He says he has a hard time imagining a future where knowing how to solve problems with computers and how to control the complexity of those solutions is less valuable than it is today, so he thinks it will continue to be a viable career even with the advent of AI tools.
Heat of this event
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