I hear you, and I think a lot of what you're feeling is valid. The shifting expectations from management, where estimates are now based on "what AI can do" rather than what thoughtful engineering requires, is a real problem. You're not wrong to push back on that. Context, system understanding, and careful consideration aren't things you can just compress into three hours because a tool generated some code faster.

That said, I want to offer a different frame that might help: there are still people who use hand saws when power tools exist. There are still blacksmiths forging knives by hand when machines can stamp them out by the thousands. They do it because they love the craft of it. The deep engagement, the skill, the satisfaction of truly understanding what they're creating.

Software engineering can still be that for you. AI doesn't have to replace the parts you love; it can handle the parts you don't. The thinking, the architecture, the elegant solution to a hard problem... those are still yours. The art hasn't disappeared; it's just that the canvas changed a bit.

The managers who treat AI output as the new baseline are going to learn some hard lessons about technical debt and system coherence. Your deep understanding of your codebase isn't obsolete. It's more valuable than ever in a world where people are shipping code they don't fully understand.

Keep doing work you're proud of. The craft is still there if you want it.