--- title: "A Writer Actually “Learned to Code” And Now AI Threatens That, Too" description: "Writing for The Guardian, former journalist Tristan Cross says he learned to code, an area that is now being threatened by AI chatbots." date: "2023-06-13" modified: "2023-06-13" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/writer-learned-code-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "chatbots" - "chatgpt" - "coding" - "the digest" --- # A Writer Actually “Learned to Code” And Now AI Threatens That, Too ![Writing for The Guardian, former journalist Tristan Cross says he learned to code, an area that is now being threatened by AI chatbots.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Code Switching Remember when extremist chuds were trolling journalists by telling them to "[learn to code]()"? So do we. Writing [for *The Guardian*](), journalist-turned-coder Tristan Cross pretty aptly described the horrible conditions that led him to learn to code in the first place. "I spent the best part of the 2010s working in new media," he wrote, "which — if you enjoyed being repeatedly laid off and then being inundated with jeering messages inveigling you to 'learn to code' because your industry was doomed — was a great big laugh." Recently, after "the fun began to wear off," Cross, whose writing has previously appeared in outlets ranging from *Vice* to *Comedy Central*, decided to actually learn to code as "an act of subversive defiance (or cowardly resignation)." "I took their goading advice, learned to code and pivoted to what I’d hoped would be a far more secure career in 'web development,'" he wrote, "only for recent advances in AI to supposedly render coding jobs a waste of time, too." ## Autocompete In reality, the tech's shortcomings are well documented, from bungling [attempts at journalism]() to even [legal counsel](). But the tech's limitations haven't stopped business owners from salivating over the prospect of getting to [reduce their overheads]() by [replacing human workers]() with [much-cheaper algorithms](). And the same goes for coding. Cross notes that while "playing around with various chatbots, you’ll still experience the AI making a fair amount of mistakes," but that it's "not difficult to envisage a not too distant future where they can discern users' needs and walk them through solutions," ultimately undermining the role of the human coder. The ex-writer, who now is a self-employed web designer and developer, clearly has mixed feelings about the topic. While he said that he's lucky to have a good roster of clients who value him for his skill as well as his creativity, he's nevertheless concerned about Silicon Valley types jumping the gun and overselling the tech as a way to replace human workers. "The heaviest salivating around the potential of AI is coming from those who see it as an exciting costcutting measure that might allow capital to finally become unshackled from its old adversary, labor," he wrote. And that, Cross contends, is "absurd nonsense." **More on chatbots:** [*OpenAI CEO Says He Loses Sleep Over Decision to Release ChatGPT*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()