Yep, massive LOC means massive maintenance. Maybe the LLMs can maintain their own code? I'm skeptical. I feel like they can easily code themselves into an unmaintainable corner.
But maybe the times that happens is so rare and low that you just hire a human to unstuck the whole thing and get it running again. Maybe we'll become more like mechanics you visit every now and then for an expensive, quick job, vs an annual retainer.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a developer who enjoys refactoring a messy, bug ridden code base. This is the reason why rewrites happen, nobody wants to touch the old code with a ten foot pole and it’s easier to just rewrite it all.
So if you turn the entire job into that? I don’t think skilled people will be lining up to do it. Maybe consulting firms would take that on I guess.
But maybe the times that happens is so rare and low that you just hire a human to unstuck the whole thing and get it running again. Maybe we'll become more like mechanics you visit every now and then for an expensive, quick job, vs an annual retainer.