{"id":22955,"date":"2025-05-20T12:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T12:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/?p=22955"},"modified":"2026-01-05T09:15:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T09:15:35","slug":"ai-replaces-metaverse-engineer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/ai-replaces-metaverse-engineer\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Replaces Metaverse Engineer: From Six-Figure Salary to Food Delivery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The feared reality is unfolding\u2014artificial intelligence is replacing human jobs<\/strong>. One of its victims is a former Metaverse<\/a><\/em> software engineer<\/strong>, now struggling to survive by delivering food and selling second-hand items online. Once earning a six-figure salary<\/strong>, Shawn K.<\/strong> now lives in a van<\/strong>, earning money as a food courier<\/strong> and through eBay sales<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shawn is among many in the tech industry<\/strong> who lost their jobs due to a combination of mass layoffs<\/strong> and the rapid advancement of AI technologies<\/strong>. He fears this situation could become the new normal<\/strong> for many developers in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In countries like the U.S., where living costs are high and the safety net is limited<\/strong>, living in a van isn\u2019t an adventurous lifestyle\u2014it\u2019s often seen as the last resort<\/strong> for low-income and displaced individuals. For Shawn, it’s now his only way to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Downfall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Shawn was laid off nearly a year ago from Virbela<\/strong>, a Metaverse company that claimed to build virtual environments<\/strong> mimicking real-world social dynamics. Virbela is a subsidiary of U.S.-based real estate firm eXp Realty<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shared on social media:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Different organizations adopt technology at different speeds. Ours was one of the early adopters of AI<\/strong>. When ChatGPT<\/a><\/em><\/strong> was first released, the average developer\u2019s productivity increased by 3 to 10 times. At that point, it became clear the old way of working was no longer sustainable.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to Shawn, the company quickly redirected most of its resources toward integrating AI into existing products<\/strong>. Ironically, during this peak in AI enthusiasm, the company also laid off a large number of developers<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“I don\u2019t know the exact number, but layoffs happened across almost all teams simultaneously.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Is There Still a Future for Developers?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This case exposes a new reality in the tech industry<\/strong>, where AI is beginning to replace software developers<\/strong>. What once seemed like a distant possibility is now becoming commonplace. Experienced engineers<\/strong> are being left behind by automation<\/strong>, forced to survive through gig work<\/strong> and non-tech labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Shawn depends on temporary jobs<\/strong> and isn\u2019t sure whether he\u2019ll ever find a place again in the tech industry. His story is a striking example of how the AI revolution<\/strong> is rewriting the rules\u2014and impacting lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing is clear: many software engineers<\/strong> have already lost to AI<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You Might Also Like;<\/h3>\n\n\n
    <\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The feared reality is unfolding\u2014artificial intelligence is replacing human jobs. One of its victims is a former Metaverse software engineer, now struggling to survive by delivering food and selling second-hand items online. Once earning a six-figure salary, Shawn K. now lives in a van, earning money as a food courier and through eBay sales. Shawn …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAown96uCw:productID":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[332,322],"tags":[335,318],"class_list":["post-22955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai-information","category-metaverse1","tag-ai-news","tag-metaverse-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metaverseplanet.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}