if your job turns to putting square blocks in square holes, will you also be happy? because that's how coding feels like nowadays

I don't understand this. What ever was the purpose of your life in the first place? What are you measuring to say "hasn't made my life better"?

Everything interesting enough to be worth doing is hard, and persisting at it is my most rewarding way to spend time.

If you took it away and made me loaf on a beach, I would enjoy it for about a day.

And then my life is empty and worthless and definitely not better. Even on that beach I would shortly be trying to make something interesting out of the palm leaves.

And then someon would say we should have a machine to do that because it's hard and "persisting at hard things hasn't made my life any better".

It's the most depressing sentiment I can imagine to say that.

> No matter how hard I try nothing ever gets better.

How do you know trying hard isn’t stopping things from getting worse?

> If AI eases the burden even a little I'll take it.

It does ease the burden for a little bit but then makes the burden much harder when you don’t have it. That’s the point.

> Persistenting at hard things hasn't made my life any better yet.

Again, how do you know it’s not stopping it from getting worse? Also, are you sure you’re worrying about the right hard things?