tl;dr: A Gen-X developer and CS instructor reflects on why AI-generated work—code, art, fiction—feels unfulfilling despite him initiating it: prompting an LLM feels like managing a contractor, not making something himself. He draws a fuzzy line between tools he uses (compilers, hammers) and agents he delegates to, acknowledging the gray area but concluding that the human-like, imprecise nature of LLM interaction puts them in the "asking someone else to make it" category, which robs him of the pride of creation.