I’m in your same demographic. However I see these technologies as career extenders, not career threats. I can learn things faster than ever and adapt to changes more easily.

That's awesome. That's exactly the kind of thinking that turns L's to W's.

As someone much younger (mid 20's), I have absolutely no idea what to do. I don't even think there _is_ anything I can do, aside from waiting to see what happens. What happens when programmers are no longer needed? That certainly (I hope) won't happen in 5 years, but given the exponential rate of improvement, I can see programming as a profession being gone in 20-30 years.

you sound too pessimistic

even if programming is gone in 20-30 years, you have plenty of time (and energy) to make your daily move to "what is needed".

> What happens when programmers are no longer needed?

I can't imagine a situation like this. Who is doing all the actual programming work ? Who is receiving the products of the work ? Who is competing with the previous two groups ?

Writing code might be no longer needed at some point but programmers don't spend majority of their time writing code.