I share here my reply to someone in the ClimateAction.tech community who worried about how many job listings are now explicitly requiring for use of AI coding tools while he doesn't want to use them for ethical and environmental reasons.

As a freelancer I'm permanently searching for new contracts, and like you I feel the pressure about increasing demand regarding AI coding tools. However I'm still stubbornly refusing to use them. And since long before AI I also always stubbornly refused to touch any Microsoft products for similar reasons. Of course I've then been repeatedly called a jerk who won't last long.

Well, I've been working as a software developer for more than 25 years now, always found my way in the job market even so, and still don't feel like it's going to end tomorrow. I may be earning not as much as I could, but I'm far from poor nonetheless and rather proud to put my ethics before my bank account.

Of course there will be someone to say "this time it's different". Yeah, _this_ time should have been different for the last 25 years and I'm still waiting for it... Also, about luddite, according to Wikipedia at least they were not against new technology, they were against those who abuse it. So, go ahead and call me a luddite if you like.

My strategy when looking for a new contract is to use job listings not to find jobs but to find employers. Like googling "who's out there looking for someone". Then I search about the employer, and if it looks interesting to me I contact them, explain them who I am, what I can do, and why I'd like to work for them, regardless of what the job description was. I put my opinions on the table right from the beginning. If they don't like me, fair enough, another will.

And so far it worked rather well for me. That's obvious why: by refusing to give up to LLMs you're not putting yourself _behind_ others, you're putting yourself _ahead_. Those who actually know how to code have a skill that more and more are forgetting or refusing to learn. That's a joker card I've seen getting stronger and stronger. LLMs will keep generating awful slop for years, if not forever. If you maintain high technical skills you'll have a role to play.

I also like to see it as a shift toward craftsmanship. Like, fast food took over the world, but great cooks are still out there. They become rarer, and so do they become more valuable. It's hard to compete with machines to cook a burger, but only La Mere Poulard knows how to cook a good omelette. Anyone could pretend to be a programmer during the dot-com bubble, there was just enough hands available. Now you have to prove you're worth it, and if you are you can enjoy the right to do what you like how you like, as well as the pleasure of not serving shit to your customers.

Resist ! You're not alone, and it's worth it.