> There's no pride, no joy, just productivity.

I think it’s more nuanced than that.

Not every project one does will be or should be considered art or a source of joy and pride.

The boring CRUD apps that put the “bread on the table” are just that, a means to an end, they will not be your main source of pride or fulfillment. But somewhere in between there will be projects where you can put all your heart in and turn off that LLM.

Think of the countless boring weddings playlists a DJ has to do or the boring “give me the cheapest” single family homes an architect has to design.