The answer to that question, in a decade and a half of hindsight, is "yes, and no, depending on your perspective".

Smart phones, Instagram as a form-factor, filters, likes, and now AI — photography is still a thing. Depending on your take, it may be more alive than ever — or you might say that it is long dead, if digital innovation has ruined the purity of the art.

Just a few weeks ago, ChatGPT opened a lot of eyes. GPT-3 is not magic, and under the hood it's still pretty damn dumb, but if you've been following along, it's hard to deny that it isn't a window into the next decade of major changes.

We're living through an artificial intelligence renaissance that will change "content on the Internet" in ways which are going to be tough to predict — however, our relationship with the craft is going to evolve, and there will be no moment where we are totally left behind.

Smart phones did shrink photojournalism, even if photography exploded in absolute metrics. There will be crafts and professions which shrink, while others grow.

Writing and software development will still be valuable crafts, but some of the skills required for excellence will change. If you are an experienced practitioner, consider yourself one of the valuable few who will understand why the AI might be suggesting something the way it is. If you are new to the craft, consider your edge the opportunity to embrace AI right from the get go.

There will be bad actors, there will be greedy CEOs, there will be some really bad decisions made along the way. But there will be opportunity for growth, new perspective, and some brand new ways to have fun within the craft.

Happy coding. ❤️