Paul Ford
Writer and co-founder of Aboard, who has published essays and stories on Ftrain.com since 1997 and writes about software, AI and vibe coding.
“People see their skills and expertise as a territory to be defended. … What I'm going to say to that person is: see your skills and expertise as a body of knowledge to be shared and transmitted as opposed to a territory to be defended.”
The Aboard Podcast · AI Builders · October 2026
A listener asks how to respond now that clients use AI to produce the requirements and visualizations they used to pay for. Ford answers with a pattern he says he sees over and over, in work and in life.
Transcript
And my feelings were really hurt. Sure. I understand now, like, why they were hurt and so on. But at the moment, it just felt like, oh, the thing that made me special in the friendship, the thing that made me feel in control doesn't matter anymore.
Yeah.
And you see this pattern over and over in work and life, which is people see their skills and expertise as a territory to be defended. And I'm going to just get, I want you to actually answer this one after me, but what I'm going to say to that person is: see your skills and expertise as a body of knowledge to be shared and transmitted as opposed to a territory to be defended.
Yeah. This is such a tricky topic. And because everybody is proud of the drawing they did. Everyone's feeling really good about the really pretty drawing with the rainbow over the cabin. They're
giving birth to a baby in like two hours and they're like, it's a great baby. And you're like, it's a two-hour baby.
It is a strange moment where we've empowered everyone with everything and everyone feels comfortable enough to walk into the kitchen in like one of the best restaurants in the world. Yeah,
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