‘AI is already eating its own': Prompt engineering is quickly going extinct

Yahoo

07-05-2025

Just two years ago, prompt engineering was hailed as a hot new job in tech. Now it has all but disappeared.
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At the beginning of the corporate AI boom, some companies sought out large language model (LLM) translators—prompt engineers who specialized in crafting the most effective questions to ask internal AIs, ensuring optimal and efficient outputs. Today, strong AI prompting is simply an expected skill, not a stand-alone role. Some companies are even using AI to generate the best prompts for their own AI systems.
The decline of prompt engineering serves as a cautionary tale for the AI job market. The flashy, niche roles that emerged with ChatGPT's rise may prove to be short-lived. While AI is reshaping roles across industries, it may not be creating entirely new ones.
'AI is already eating its own,' says Malcolm Frank, CEO of TalentGenius. 'Prompt engineering has become something that's embedded in almost every role, and people know how to do it. Also, now AI can help you write the perfect prompts that you need. It's turned from a job into a task very, very quickly.'
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Part of the prompt engineer's appeal was its low barrier to entry. The role required little technical expertise, making it an accessible path for those eager to join a booming market. But because the position was so generalized, it was also easily replaced.
Frank compares prompt engineering to roles like 'Excel wizard' and 'PowerPoint expert'—all valuable skills, but not ones companies typically hire for individually. And prompt engineers may not be the only roles fading away. Frank envisions a world where AI agents—already taking shape—replace many lower-level tasks. 'It's almost like Pac-Man just moving along and eating different tasks and different skills,' he says.
AI has the potential to displace thousands of workers. Its advocates have long argued that it will create as many jobs as it destroys. Prompt engineering once seemed to support that claim—a brand-new job title born from AI. But that optimism may be misplaced. Rather than inventing entirely new roles, AI is largely reshaping existing ones.
Tim Tully wasn't surprised to see prompt engineering decline. As a partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, he's witnessed the AI boom firsthand, especially through the firm's investment in Anthropic. He also works closely with software developers—a profession already transformed by tools like Cursor. His view is clear: The real impact of AI lies not in boutique job creation, but in widespread productivity gains.