---
id: "question-software-engineering-demand"
type: "open-question"
source_timestamps: ["¶5"]
tags: ["labor-markets", "software-engineering"]
related: ["concept-ai-fog", "claim-moat-vulnerability"]
resolution_path: "Will be resolved by tracking labor market data and the elasticity of demand for software as AI coding agents become ubiquitous."
sources: ["futures"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-futures"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-foci-72-future-ai-fog"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/the-future-is-shrouded-in-an-ai-fog"
sourceTitle: "The Future Is Shrouded in an AI Fog"
---
# Will AI Eliminate or Create Software Engineering Jobs?

**Open question:** Will ubiquitous machine intelligence **eliminate** the need for almost all software engineers, or **counterintuitively create more** of these jobs by lowering the cost of software creation and increasing overall demand? This unresolvability is itself a symptom of the [[concept-ai-fog|AI fog]] and connects to [[claim-moat-vulnerability]].

**Resolution path:** Track labor-market data and the **elasticity of demand for software** (Jevons-paradox dynamics) as AI coding agents become ubiquitous.