The Dunder Mifflin situation that app developers are now in.
“The human touch is that little snippet of physical affection that brings a bit of comfort, support, and kindness. It doesn’t take much from the one who gives it, but can make a huge difference in the one who receives it.” –Albert Einstein
Imagine you’re in a boat, surrounded by a dense fog. You know there’s land somewhere, but you can’t see it. You’re not even sure which direction to paddle. That’s what uncertainty feels like. It’s a feeling that many of us are familiar with, especially in today’s rapidly changing technological landscape.
Remember Dunder Mifflin? The paper company from the TV show “The Office”? They were in a similar boat. As businesses started going digital, they saw their traditional paper market shrinking. They knew the world was changing, but they weren’t sure what place they would have in this new digital landscape.
Fast forward to today, and application developers are in a similar situation. With AI getting better and better at coding, developers are left wondering: Will there be a need for human coders in the future? It’s like being in that foggy boat, not knowing where the land is.
But here’s the thing about uncertainty: It’s not always a bad thing. It forces us to adapt, to think creatively, and to find new ways to provide value. And that’s where the human touch comes in.
Think about buying a gift for a friend. Sure, you could use an AI to pick something based on data about your friend’s preferences. But isn’t it more meaningful when you choose the gift yourself? That’s the human touch. It’s something that Dunder Mifflin understood well. Despite the rise of digital technology and big box stores, they knew that their personalized service was something that their customers valued.
In a world where all coding is done by AI, the human touch is more important than ever. It’s the ability of developers to understand the user experience on a deeper level, to empathize with users, and to bring a human perspective to the design and functionality of applications. AI might be able to write code, but it can’t replicate the human understanding of emotion, context, and nuance.
“There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals.” — Idowu Koyenikan
And that brings us to the value proposition. In simple terms, your value proposition is what makes you stand out from the crowd. For Dunder Mifflin, it was their personal touch and superior customer service. In a world where all coding is done by AI, the value proposition for application developers is their ability to understand and interpret human needs, their creativity in designing user experiences, and their ability to oversee and direct the work of AI coding agents.
But there’s more to it than that. In this AI-dominated future, the value proposition also includes the ability to work effectively with AI, to understand its capabilities and limitations, and to communicate that value to teammates and clients. As Scott Brinker puts it, “the amount of work we’re turning over to machines will accelerate tremendously, but there’s so much we can build on top of this.”
Even if AI does all the coding, there will still be a need for humans to guide that process and make the big decisions. It’s the human developers who can understand the user’s needs, who can come up with creative solutions, and who can ensure that the end product meets those needs.
So, to all the application developers out there, remember this: Yes, the landscape is changing. Yes, there’s a lot of uncertainty. But just like Dunder Mifflin, you have something that AI doesn’t: the human touch. And that’s your biggest asset.
In the end, it’s not about competing with AI. It’s about finding ways to work with it, to leverage its capabilities, and to provide value in ways that AI can’t. It’s about navigating through the fog, finding the land, and carving out your place in this new landscape.
So, keep paddling. Keep adapting. Keep bringing that human touch. Because no matter how advanced AI gets, there will always be a need for that.
“You miss 100% of the apps you don’t build.” — Wayne Gretzky — Michael Scott
