Do I belong in tech anymore?

A design engineer reflects on quitting their job after experiencing burnout driven by the pervasive adoption of AI tools in their workplace and a broader disillusionment with the tech industry's values. They describe specific scenarios where AI was used carelessly — unreviewed code merges, AI-generated code reviews, AI-driven design prototypes — and how the constant friction of deciding whether to push back left them exhausted and alienated. Beyond AI, they mourn the loss of the progressive ideals they believed tech once stood for, citing tech leaders' capitulation to political power and abandonment of climate and equity commitments. They frame their burnout not as mere tiredness but as the 'emotional experience of political defeat' — grief over the loss of an ideal. They are now recovering, pursuing personal projects, and uncertain whether they'll return to full-time tech work.