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AI Made Me Homeless

medium.com17 points9 comments
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Eric Elliott describes the collapse of his career and consulting business after generative AI reshaped software work and how people learn. His developer mentorship and consulting company once relied on technical writing that drew about 700,000 monthly reads; after ChatGPT launched, readership fell by roughly 99%, and fewer new clients replaced graduates of his programs. A year-long search led to an engineering management role at Adobe Firefly, where his team built a shared platform for adding AI features to Adobe apps. He was laid off in October 2025. Consulting brought a short-lived major contract, but when it ended and smaller projects failed to cover expenses, he fell behind on rent and was evicted in 2026. He now lives in his car while applying for leadership jobs.

Elliott argues that his experience reflects a broader labor-market crisis, not simply personal misfortune: companies are adopting AI to operate with smaller teams, while large numbers of skilled, displaced professionals compete for fewer openings. He cites about 170,000 announced U.S. tech job cuts in 2026 and Microsoft buyout offers to roughly 60,000 workers as signs of mounting pressure. He also challenges the advice to “just start a business.” AI makes building software easier, but does not solve the harder problem of finding customers; with millions able to create apps, competition for attention and revenue is intensifying. His central warning is that AI expertise and decades of experience do not guarantee job security or financial protection.

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