Some people I know who are incredibly talented, and genuinely very special to me, are having real existential crises right now. A few of them are anxious because Opus 5.5 suddenly makes it possible for almost anyone to do in minutes what they spent years learning to do really well. And I honestly understand both sides of this. One side looks at it and thinks this is amazing. Someone with $20 or $100 can suddenly build genuinely impressive things, especially in game design, 3D, coding, and creative work in general. That level of access is incredible. But the other side feels like AI is slowly taking away one of the most meaningful parts of the work itself: learning, designing, testing, failing, improving, and eventually becoming really good at something. There was value in the struggle, and also in knowing that your skills made you rare among millions of other people. It’s a very strange time. Dark in some ways, incredibly hopeful and exciting in others. I’ve never seen this many developers going through this kind of crisis at once. Some are completely fascinated and happier than ever. Others are genuinely sad, questioning their value, and even thinking about changing careers.