Spinellis Predicts Thinking Becomes a Hobby

The essay’s strongest point is economic, not metaphysical: even imperfect AI can reshape work once it becomes cheap, plentiful, and good enough. Its biggest leap is assuming displacement will produce leisure rather than inequality.

• –Developers may shift from routine implementation toward goal-setting, evaluation, architecture, and accountability.
• –Model benchmarks understate integration, verification, security, and liability costs.
• –Without redistribution or retraining, “thinking as a hobby” could mean lost income rather than freedom.
• –The Hacker News debate highlights that judgment, responsibility, taste, and social trust are not merely information-processing tasks. [Discussion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50059204)