Don't let it get you down. You need to remember that this whole AI hype / AI will replace everyone is coming from people who invested a lot of money into it and really need it to succeed now.

Many also have an oversimplified view of what the discipline of software engineering includes in addition to little understanding how different types of AI work.

Besides, skillsets you learned in SE can easily applied to other 'non-virtual' fields. Many people suck at providing clear and specific instructions or requirements; businesses also have many real world processes that need to be optimized; identifying problems in a system (you first need to see there is an issue, if you want to ask an AI to fix it for you in the next step); being able to break down and tackle large, complex topics; ... I could probably come up with many more points.

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

In my career as a programmer mostly writing custom software for smaller companies, 90% of the job was understanding the clients' businesses and working out what they needed the software to do. Designing, writing and supporting the software was relatively trivial. My bosses never understood my lack of enthusiasm when they would hire newly-graduated Computer Science students and stick them on my team. Never mind that they knew almost nothing about the actual process of producing complete working software -- they were completely useless for the main task of gathering requirements.