{"slug": "challenge-and-opportunity", "title": "Challenge and opportunity", "summary": "Web developer David Bushell returns from a ten-day offline break to express anger and frustration over the negative impact of AI on the tech industry, citing demotivated talent, educators questioning their worth, and a growing exodus from tech. He announces plans to continue his fight for the web against AI-driven deskilling and tokenized economies, while prioritizing client work and personal well-being.", "body_md": "# Challenge and opportunity\n\nI am back! Ten days “offline”. For me that just means *online* without talking to anyone.\n\nMy break came at a time of high industry (and personal) stress.\n\nSeeing talented people lose motivation bums me the hell out.\n\n[Reach out and say thanks]- Kevin Powell\n\nThank you to those who reached out whilst I was offline :)\n\nCatching up on [RSS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS)[educators question their worth](https://webweekly.email/archive/web-weekly-193/) makes me angry. Seeing more people cite [“AI”](https://dbushell.com/ai/)[exit tech](https://dbushell.com/notes/2026-04-25T06:26Z/) boils my blood!\n\nAI was the last straw. Have you heard of that island off India where the indigenous population kills any outsiders fool-hardy enough to land? They are doing the rest of us a favor by preserving a way of life we may need again someday, or at the very least should not want to see completely extinguished.\n\n[I Am Retiring from Tech to Live Offline]- Chad Whitacre\n\nThe [chatbox psychosis](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/27/tech-ceos-are-apparently-suffering-from-ai-psychosis/) epidemic remains in full force. Despite countless studies suggesting [AI isn’t paying off](https://fortune.com/2026/05/11/ai-automation-layoffs-gartner-study-roi/). Despite countless examples showing that [AI is broken by design](https://lenz.io/research/llm-disagreement). Despite growing sentiment that [AI isn’t welcome](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8pqd54qneo). Despite everything, the stochastic parrot feeders insist that our future is token servitude.\n\nI crashed out hard at [Google’s deskilling](https://dbushell.com/2026/05/20/google-just-spat-in-my-face/). That incensed me. To see the word “skill” redefined and sold as a directory of markdown files is a grave insult.\n\n## An opportunity\n\n[I’m still motivated](https://dbushell.com/2026/02/09/big-design-and-bold-ideas/#why-change). In the face of career-ending threats I see opportunity. I’ll be setting up shop as a limited company soon(-ish) after 15+ years of self-employment. Expect more news on that front later in the year.\n\nFirst I need to get a grip on unhealthy levels of stress. That means prioritising paid client work over my blog and social media antics! I work Mon–Thursday for exactly that reason. Friday is my personal day. Lately though I’ve found myself in keyboard warrior mode at 11am midweek. That must stop if I am to survive!\n\nThe challenge is to continue enjoying my profession. I want to find a way to encourage and remotivate others too. At the same time, I can’t ignore the continued assault. The web must be fought for. That ain’t easy when it’s all so demoralising. I won’t be silenced in my fight against [alternative thoughts](https://dbushell.com/2026/04/28/alternative-thoughts/). The gatekeepers cannot be allowed to turn one of humanity’s greatest creations into a tokendollar economy.\n\nI can’t believe this needs repeating but: **do not replace real skills with a directory of markdown files.** Stay hungry to learn. Fight for the web.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/challenge-and-opportunity", "canonical_source": "https://dbushell.com/2026/06/01/challenge-and-opportunity/", "published_at": "2026-06-01 15:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-26 23:09:07.864707+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-ethics", "ai-policy", "ai-safety", "generative-ai", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["David Bushell", "Google", "Kevin Powell", "Chad Whitacre", "BBC", "TechCrunch", "Fortune", "RSS"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/challenge-and-opportunity", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/challenge-and-opportunity.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/challenge-and-opportunity.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/challenge-and-opportunity.jsonld"}}