A Reddit post claiming that artificial intelligence has already begun displacing software engineers has hit the internet and sparked a debate about job security in the tech industry.
A post shared by a Reddit user identified as SingularityuS describes the experience of a mid-level software engineer who says he was let go after his company moved to what management described as an “AI-first execution model.” According to the user, he spent four years at the company, leading the backend team, delivering features, reviewing pull requests, and being deeply familiar with the systems that colleagues relied on when something broke.
That sense of stability, he wrote, began to erode when the company’s leadership began talking about “using AI” and “10x productivity.” The breakthrough came during a company-wide meeting where the CEO demonstrated an artificial intelligence tool—namely, Claude—creating a service in minutes. Soon after, the company hired two “Applied AI Engineers” and tasked them with rebuilding the internal service. The experiment is said to have lasted three days and worked.
What followed was quick, according to a Reddit user. Management announced the pivot, telling employees that “software development has fundamentally changed.” He recalled one statement in particular: “With modern AI tools, we no longer need dozens of engineers writing code, just a few people who know how to run the system.”
The user said it felt less like conventional gunfire and more like sudden insignificance. “It doesn’t feel like a layoff. It feels like overnight obsolescence,” he wrote, adding that entire layers of engineering roles appeared to be disappearing in real time. His warning to others was straightforward: “So if you’re reading this and thinking, ‘Yeah, but I’m safe. I’m good.’ Me too.”
The post quickly gained traction, garnering over 998 upvotes and a flood of reactions. Some commentators have questioned the authenticity of the account, suggesting that it reads like an AI-generated story. But others said the scenario is in line with trends they’ve already seen in the industry.
One skeptical commenter wrote: “This is so cynical, but makes so much sense that it has to be true. OpenAI and Anthropic are so scared of their pre-IPO investment funds slowing down (and attitudes that they’re going to screw up all the investors)…they’re spinning the usual fear-mongering marketing campaign to scare idiot VCs into giving more money and thinking the apocalypse is almost here.” The comment referred to companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which are known for developing advanced artificial intelligence systems.
Another user struck a more cautionary note, writing: “But that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. CEOs are excited about cutting wages, it lets them try it as an experiment. If it works, then the company feels justified, if it doesn’t, they hire a few developers back. Discount this story at your own peril.”
A third commenter was unconvinced, simply stating: “read like an AI made-up story”.
(This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Livemint has not independently verified and does not endorse these claims.)