Good Night, and Good Luck: AI, fear and what the job data says

The author examines Indeed job-posting data and official employment figures and argues that the sharp fall in software job postings peaked in early 2022, before ChatGPT, and coincided with rising interest rates, while postings have risen about 28% since May 2025. He cites Stanford research showing a roughly 19% gap for workers aged 22–25 in AI-exposed jobs and notes that Anthropic's own software engineer openings more than doubled from 44 in February 2026 to 97 in October 2026. He concludes that economics explains the crash and AI shapes the recovery toward fewer juniors and more seniors, while warning that fear benefits engagement-driven posters and AI companies' valuations.