I think there will definitely still be people interested in understanding these sorts of things (that is: solving CTF’s without automatic assistance), even if a

I think there will definitely still be people interested in understanding these sorts of things (that is: solving CTF’s without automatic assistance), even if at the end of the day they solve them using automation when it comes to a professional context. What I am more afraid of is people giving up and losing hope that there is any reason for humans to develop and understand systems. We need to keep in mind that even very powerful automation is still a tool for a human to make use of, and that is something I’m not confident many people are able to be conscious of. It’s a little like believing that an advanced CNC machine makes carpentry pointless to practice or understand, since now a computer can just do it.