As a software engineer, my entire professional life has become AI slop. Every line of every pull request? Slop. Every code review comment? Slop. Every technical design document? Slop. I know I'm not alone—this is nearly every software engineer's daily life now. In many organizations 100% of their software engineering practice is slop. Even leadership decisions are informed by slop.

I've been a software developer/engineer/entrepreneur for 20 years. For most of that time, it was an actual daily pleasure. Recently, AI code generation has become non optional. It's made this job an absolute slog. For people who enjoyed the craft, there's little enjoyment in waiting for a coding bot. The novelty wears off quickly, especially once you realize there's no way back.

Opting out is professionally nonviable. Every company asks about AI in interviews—it's shorthand for whether you'll be difficult. If you want to remain employable, you better answer affirmatively. Even personal projects face a universe filled with AI slop apps. Even Apple is eagerly releasing slopware.

I don't have a conclusion. I'd love to find a corner where this hasn't happened, like Zig with its encouraging stance on AI use. Non-AI projects may have a niche, but likely only a niche. Stay sane.