If AI replaces software engineers, people outside tech doesn't have much chance of surviving it too.

Exactly. I think it’s pretty clear that software engineering is an “intelligence complete” problem. If you can automatically solve SWE than you can automatically solve pretty much all knowledge work.

A lot of modern corporate work is bullshit work.

I don't think it is too outrageous to believe that LLMs can do a lot of what all those armies of corporate bureaucrats do.

The difference is that unlike SWEs, the people doing all that bullshit work are much better at networking, so they will (collectively) find a reason why they shouldn't be replaced with AI and push it through.

SWEs could do so as well, if only we were unionized.

Gotta agree that you have a point here, a pretty strong one indeed.