Summary & Key Takeaways ​

Josh W. Comeau reports a significant decline in sales for his developer courses. Sales are down by roughly one-third for new courses and 50%+ for existing ones. He attributes this trend primarily to the rise of AI. Developers are hesitant to invest in new skills due to uncertainty about future job availability. LLMs offer personalized tutoring, reducing the incentive to purchase paid courses. LLMs often regurgitate creator content without consent or compensation. Other course creators are reporting similar revenue declines and reduced engagement.

Our Commentary ​

This hits hard. I've been wondering about the long-term viability of independent content creation in the age of LLMs, and Josh's experience is a stark confirmation of my fears. There's something deeply unsettling about agents churning away at 3am while nobody's watching, consuming human effort without a clear path for compensation. We need to figure this out, fast. The "free tutoring" aspect is a double-edged sword.