Software engineering is not going anywhere anytime soon

People with limited and low-end skills, without business domain expertise and the experience that goes along with that, have always struggled to get hired and to keep their jobs in a downturn.

If your skills cannot outcompete an LLM then you need to upgrade your skills rather than worrying about so-called AI taking your job away.

The way I see it, AI software are tools that software engineers can use to make their workflow more efficient.

Software engineering, no. Programming, yes.

A distinction without a difference.

In a profession with no agreed upon standards for anything, everyone can call themselves an “engineer,” rendering the title meaningless.

You are correct, but the distinction will become obvious soon enough.

People either solve problems and add value as employees (or contractors), or they don’t. What they call themselves has no relevance.

The exclusive focus on “stacks” and the tools and lore and make-work of programming has left a lot of people unable to contribute much value.