The 'Frontend Engineer' Title Died at Alibaba — and AI Finished It Off

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theme: channing-cyan

After much thought, I happened to have some free time this afternoon and didn't feel like doing real work, so I figured I'd write something.

I graduated in 2022. Back then, I hadn't yet realized that a few years later something called AI would appear — something that could finish in 10 minutes what previously took 3 to 7 days. Yes, at first it was called ChatGPT, and later Gemini, Claude Code, Kimi, GLM, Minimax.

Then the whole world rapidly entered the AI era. Major companies bet heavily on AI, racing to seize the initiative in the AI age, terrified of missing the next "mobile internet."

In such a torrent, the frontend role can be said to be the first to be marginalized, laid off, and optimized. Compared to backend, frontend's depth of involvement in the business is far shallower. When it comes to server operations, people are still slightly cautious about using AI, but frontend is different — AI can directly generate any page you want.

So every time a powerful large model is released, there's always another round of "frontend is dead."

I've been pondering whether frontend is truly dead or not. Various bloggers say it's dead; others say it can't die.

I thought about it for a long time, until I saw the news that Alibaba's Alipay Experience Technology Department was being split up and distributed to various other departments. In my heart, I found the answer — frontend is gone.

Does frontend exist? Yes. But does pure frontend exist anymore? No. The role of knowing only frontend without backend or databases is gone.

On Juejin, I'm frantically seeing messages of people being laid off — all layoffs and unpaid wages.

Frontend is indeed gone. Whether you're willing or not, the title of "Frontend Development Engineer" has officially fallen before AI.

But I am grateful for the frontend role. Even though I complain about it — complain that it pays little, complain that it lacks technical depth, complain that it's a bug router, complain that it's always the first to be marginalized, complain about its low status and weak voice.

Yet by working in frontend, relying on this salary, I bought a car, bought a house, and started a family.

You could say that over these four years, from 2022 to 2026, I watched frontend step into the abyss with my own eyes, watched it decline.

At my company, I also gradually transitioned from frontend to full-stack, and then to Agent development. And then to writing not a single line of code, relying entirely on AI to write code.

I realized that I have truly bid farewell to frontend. Even if I'm still coding, I am no longer a frontend developer.

So let's say a proper goodbye to frontend.

I think I will say goodbye well.

Frontend, ah —

Do you know you were the biggest contributor to the mobile internet wave?

Do you know you were the best path for people without advanced degrees to earn a salary?

In the torrent of history,

I will cast a vote for you.

Goodbye, frontend.

Hello, AI.