Anthropic engineer warns of 'painful' reshaping of computer jobs

Boris Cherny, the creator of Claude Code at Anthropic, says a new generation of AI agents that can operate computers will reshape nearly every internet-based job in America — and that change is coming very soon. He recently appeared on Lenny's Podcast, hosted by Lenny Rachitsky.

Claude Code is Anthropic's AI coding agent built on top of its Claude models. The company released its latest updates, called Opus 4.6, in early February. Unlike a traditional chatbot, an AI agent can use digital tools — running commands, analyzing documents, messaging colleagues, completing tasks across apps, and even building websites — and can increasingly use a computer the way a human does, though the company said it has yet to reach the level of a skilled human.

Cherny warned the shift will be disruptive and 'painful for a lot of people,' and said roles such as software engineer will start to 'go away' in 2026. He said responsibilities for product managers, designers, and other knowledge workers could change rapidly as agents take on more online tasks.

United States

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