The enshittification of talent?

So many befuddling statements around AI. Here's another favourite. "Young people today can thanks to AI perform the roles of PM, UX, Designer, Analyst, Junior Developer, they are true Swiss army knives of skill and delivery!"

My first thought is that it's doing "young people" a disservice. It's not AI that let's people operate with broader perspectives. I would argue that it's rather an effect of information, training and tools being accessible on a wider scale than ever before.

Standing on shoulders of giants. The internet, online education and YouTube makes giants into true titans.

Second: we used to call them "generalists", and if you were in that camp you would say (I still do) that they are great at tying teams together, improve communication and sharpen focus.

I'm really happy that we seem to be finding more generalists in the world. We need them, to find innovation and opportunities in the overlap between disciplines, bring new thinking to old domains.

But I have a sneaky suspicion that the people banging the drum about "AI powered Swiss army employees" are really only doing so to make less people do more, with mainly slop as a result. The enshittification of workforce.