# AI is deskilling SREs by automating the routine work that builds their expertise

> Original title: AI isn't replacing SREs, it's deskilling them

- Source: Hacker News · AI (150+ points)
- Published: 2026-10-30T15:52:18.000Z
- Bad Influence: https://badinfluence.news/items/v4ks7ooy478sdtj2ubsn4yic7
- Original: https://newsletter.signoz.io/p/ai-isnt-replacing-sres-its-deskilling

## Summary

Elizabeth Ruiz of SigNoz argues that AI handling most incident response could leave SREs worse at the rare, complex outages that still need human expertise. She draws on Lisanne Bainbridge's 1983 paper "Ironies of Automation" and cites a study where endoscopists' unassisted polyp detection fell from 28% to 22% after using AI.