(Don't take it too seriously, like I said this is mostly a brain dump, I'm sure there's a lot of stuff that can be improved)
I see this challenge a lot in the industry. The young engineers truly are smart, even brilliant, but lack wisdom and experience.
Maybe there's a better way to outline this difference.
Words change, they always have, they always will. Get over it.
And anyway, the article's usage is consistent with the well-established phrase "smart guy", within which the word "smart" carries a sarcastic and derisive tone.
While this is true, I think it is helpful to communication to resist changes to language. This isn't the same thing as opposing change entirely, but language needs to have a certain stability and common understanding to maximize its usefulness.
Your opinion is wrong. The most widely spoken languages, in every historical period, are the most adaptable. Adaptability is the single most important factor in a language's ability to survive, in a useful/usable/used state, and always has been.