Some additional thoughts:

• It might be that AI replaces the formulaic empiricists and actually returns the profession to economists who have to understand human motivations and economic theory
• I'm reminded a bit of the leadup to the GFC, when finance became increasingly full of sophisticated mathematicians who lacked any area expertise
• Perhaps the important economic insights (and empirical methods) have already been developed and now we can let AI spit out sound findings on request
• Perhaps there are enough economic enthusiasts who are willing to write about it for free that the profession dies (wages go to zero), because AI makes them productive enough to meet demand