Well, I did see that, or at least people who claimed to be seniors online, plus some mid-level friends and yes, a junior friend. Admittedly, it's just anecdotes

Well, I did see that, or at least people who claimed to be seniors online, plus some mid-level friends and yes, a junior friend. Admittedly, it's just anecdotes, but it's very difficult to get hard facts, even from perusing bls.gov. But something changed in the past 4 months or so. I used to see the two things you described, but now I see seniors repeating the same thing juniors (whom they ridiculed) used to say. Look at this very thread, for example. People are starting to realize that even if these AI startups are making ridiculous promises, the tech might be way more than just hype/smoke and mirrors. I've read quite a few comments in HN, and right here in this thread, that say something along the lines of "I'll be fine... It's the juniors I'm worried about".