So much of the conversation is around these models replacing software engineers. But the use cases described in the article sound like pretty compelling business opportunities; if the custom apps he built for his wife's business have been useful, probably there are lots of businesses that would pay for the service he just provided his wife. Small, custom apps can be made way more cheaply now, so Jeven's paradox says that demand should go up. I think it will.
I would love to hear from some freelance programmers how LLMs have changed their work in the last two years.
A coworker who’s never coded has made 25 small work automation/helper apps using ai vibe coding.
She doesn’t need to hire anyone
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One problem with the idea of making businesses out of this kind of application is actually mentioned in passing in the article
"I decided to make up for my dereliction of duties by building her another app for her sign business that would make her life just a bit more delightful - and eliminate two other apps she is currently paying for"
OP used Opus to re-write existing applications that his wife was paying for. So now any time you make a commercial app and try to sell it, you're up against everyone with access to Opus or similar tooling who can replicate your application, exactly to their own specifications.