Essay: 'LLMs Will Replace 8-Track Duplication Engineers' — A Wry Take on Automation's Targets

bbenchoff.github.io (Hacker News)·low signal

A widely shared essay (43 points on HN) uses the obsolete trade of 8-track tape duplication engineering as a lens to argue that automation tends to eliminate narrow, already-fading roles rather than whole professions wholesale. The piece reframes LLM job-displacement fears around task obsolescence versus career obsolescence. It's a sharp, historically grounded contribution to the labor-impact debate.