What Thorsten Ball thinks about AI and jobs

@thorsten-ball · 15 positions · 0 changes of mind

Thorsten Ball did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

3 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Thorsten Ball has said — not written or endorsed by them.

3 positions so far — this page is not yet offered to search engines.

19 Sept 2026

Our readingEngineers who act as meat proxies shoving tickets into agents and reporting back to humans will no longer be valuable.

Their words"Engineers" who act as "meat proxies" and shove tickets into agents and report back to humans will no longer be valuable.

↗What I believe about the future of software developmentx.com 9th of 15 in this piece
19 Sept 2026

Our readingSome people will be priced out of producing software for the next few years if they cannot get enough tokens, putting them in a second league.

Their wordsYes. Some people will be priced out of producing software. Just like only some people could afford a personal computer in the 80s and 90s, for the next few years, if you can't get enough tokens, you're playing second league.

↗What I believe about the future of software developmentx.com 12th of 15 in this piece
19 Sept 2026

Our readingIt will take a generation for new software to replace old software, and people will still be employed writing code in 10 years.

Their wordsIt'll take a generation for the "new software" to replace the "old software". Just like there are people happily employed as ASP developers today, there will be people employed to write code in 10 years.

↗What I believe about the future of software developmentx.com 15th of 15 in this piece