My Question: Will AI Replace CNC Programmers And When?

A CNC programmer spent 10 years learning CAM. Now AI can generate the same toolpath in 10 seconds.

A slightly uncomfortable question for the CNC world: If AI can generate toolpaths… What happens to the value of CNC programmers? For decades, experience meant knowing:
- Complex CAM menus
- Hidden parameters
- How to fix failed toolpaths
- ....

You had to earn that knowledge over years.

But now? You can simply ask AI: "Generate a roughing path for this 3+2 part." And the software does the rest. So maybe the real skill was never just using CAM software. Maybe the real value of a programmer is:
- Process logic :  How the machining strategy should actually work
- Fixturing creativity:  How to hold the part when geometry gets difficult
- Material understanding:  How aluminum, steel, or titanium really behave under the cutter

I just wonder: AI might know the software, does it understand machining?