I've been working as a programmer for 29 years now, and almost since the beginning there has been a story ciruculating about how new technology ('4GLs', then 'R

I've been working as a programmer for 29 years now, and almost since the beginning there has been a story ciruculating about how new technology ('4GLs', then 'Rules Engines' and now 'AI') would put programmers out of business. It's never happened, of course. But if AI does ramp up and take over a bunch of programming space, it may drive IT jobs ever lower on the social/pay scale, perhaps even elevating manual labor.