Elon Musk says AI has eliminated the drudgery of coding, transforming it into a creative pursuit. He predicts a seismic shift in tech jobs as routine development is automated, freeing humans to focus on innovation and design.
In a post shared on X on August 4, 2025, xAI CEO Elon Musk declared that AI has taken a lot of the drudgery out of writing software, and that soon coding could resemble painting—becoming more of a creative hobby than a baseline engineering chore.
Musk replied to OpenAI President Greg Brockman, saying that software writing could evolve much like visual art has: once a specialized craft, now largely recreational. He noted that modern AI tools can generate “video selfies” instantly and effortlessly—signifying how routine code may soon be produced with minimal human effort.
As AI agents—including Grok 4 Code, OpenAI’s Codex, and GitHub Spark AI—automate code generation, review, debugging, and deployment, developers’ roles are shifting. Musk envisions that engineers will pivot from writing boilerplate to designing systems, experimenting, and creating unique software solutions.
He warned this transformation will lead to a seismic shift in tech jobs—routine programming roles may diminish, but demand for creativity, systems thinking, and high-level problem solving could surge.
Despite automation fears, Musk emphasized that jobs with distinctly human traits—like empathy, interpersonal connection, and creativity—will remain valuable, hinting at a premium on experiences only humans can provide.
In Musk’s vision, future coders may resemble artists more than traditional developers, shaping software with imagination rather than manual labor. This could redefine the career paths in tech over the coming years.
