Code is the new coal

Electricity, coal and code can all do an enormous variety of tasks. That puts a very high cap on how much of them we will consume. Price is what holds it back.

When the price drops, new uses unlock. That can start a revolution. I think we are in the middle of one.

Stop hand-writing code

Few monks still copied books after ~1500. Few coders will hand write code after ~2027.

A lot of us will fight to the bitter end, insist on the value of our hard earned skills. We’ll downplay the importance of AI, and disregard it by critisising it’s quality.

Interestingly, this hits the IT industry first. And we’re a young industry that’s used to frequent change. Other industries, particularily traditional ones, will be much slower in accepting this and unlocking value. Finance, legal and health may be some areas where there’s bigger opportunities for longer, and where more businesses will be properly shell-shocked.

Find replacable human-solved tasks

Cheap coal did not mean fewer energy jobs. It meant energy showed up in places it never could before.

Identity problems where code previously was too expensive to solve it with. This is where the market is farthest from saturated. This is where potential customers need calendar time to realise they’re a customer.

Everyone is using a horse and cart and washing clothes by hand. We’ve just found oil and don’t realise yet all the ways to apply it.