Yet the economic pundits continue to promote the myth that endless growth is possible and write headlines that complain about growth being a bit low.
We need steady-state sustainability

Getting a basic understanding of how code works is good
Talent is real. It takes a special kind of mind to be good at software development and not all can do it. Add to that the rise of AI, and the path to riches in software development is not clear or easy, and few will make it

It's not a scam
It's a bunch of evolving tech that is getting increasingly useful
Unfortunately, because money is involved, the hypemongers vastly overstate the actual progress

Advertisers, governments, the military and others have been lying to us for years.
Sometimes the lies can be kinda justified, like in wartime to keep secrets from the enemy.
Other times lying is used to cover up incompetence, fraud or inconvenient truths that may lead to loss of profit or political power.
Reasonable people develop a strong sense of skepticism. Others decide to stop believing everything except for the most insane fringe delusions.

Lying causes unintended consequences that are almost always bad

The answer is yes, it's OK to eliminate mosquitos.
Some people waste far too much time thinking about silly questions.

...and have had a very successful career as a software engineer.
I can't touch type. I tried to learn but just couldn't do it.
Being able to think deeply about complex designs is important, typing is not.

It used to mean real tech, like chips, devices and serious software
Now it is applied to all sorts of silly social media, shopping, games and other mass market consumer stuff
We need a new word to describe hardcore tech

"translating outdated programming languages into plain English specifications"

This is insane and impossible and only a non-technical manager could believe it. English, or any other natural language, is nowhere near precise enough to capture every detail of complex software. At best, it can represent an approximate summary.

I can imagine an AI that analyzes old code and builds a model of its function that could be used to find bugs and translate into another programming language, but translating into English is silly.

It takes a special kind of mind to be good at writing code and not all can do it. Unfortunately, programming has gotten a reputation for high salaries and lots of people from pundits to politicians promote the idea that everyone should learn to code. This results in a tsunami of students of varying ability taking CS courses. Some are talented, some not. Many of the not-so-talented students find a way to graduate and are surprised that they can't find work.

Meanwhile, the talented will master the AI tools and do just fine

"AI-powered therapist"
This is a very bad use of the tech

Complex, novel software is complex, irreducibly complex. It can't be completely specified in a simple text prompt.
The prompt "write a snake game in python" works because snake games exist along with their open source code.
Managers want to reduce costs and dream of not needing to hire programmers. This will result in a tsunami of crappy code generated cheaply.
The real promise of AI tools is as assistants that will help experts analyze and manage complexity

in the olympics of stoopid ideas

Eliminate the endless duplicates of cheap Chinese crap
I usually see many repetitions featuring the same photo, each from a seller with a different nonsense name

If these "breakthrough" consumer products require the cloud, run away
The cloud is a trap

Testing does not accurately measure academic accomplishment.
Some care more about social factors than academic accomplishment.
Some believe that the talented, who work hard should not be rewarded for their work.
Some simply don't respect talent or academic accomplishment.
Some believe it's not "cool" to be smart, and celebrate mediocrity.

Talent matters
Academic accomplishment matters
We ignore these facts at our peril