> I worry that "code was never hard" is going to become a misleading truism for business leaders.

The fact that children cannot do it does not mean that it is particularly hard, and computer science attracts a lot of people who just like video games and have no mathematical ability.

I think that the fact that programmers were/are doing a lot of the job that other positions take credit for is significant. Others can get by on bullshit, but the programmer's job in turning that bullshit into code forces them to make something real out of it through a combination of back-and-forth interrogation and just making it up when necessary. Turning handwaving into a product is a skill that programmers have, and is why AI isn't helping tech-illiterate businessmen create things that work.