Even for AI engineers, the future is not necessarily bright. These approaches are so powerful and so general that the world is probably not going to need that many of them.
I think where the real work will be is taking these models and creating real products out of them.
I think you are right, the value is in application. If you have a problem to solve with AI, you benefit from AI. If you don't, you don't.. like any software. The AI providers get $20/month, you can get anything out of AI. Users have a much higher upside than AI developers and providers.
I think where the real work will be is taking these models and creating real products out of them.