there is certainly a future where this isn't the case. Learning how to use AI and use it in your workflows will likely for sure be a part of any serious dev's future, but being beholden to a data center does not seem to reflect reality. Consider all the 5m-8m models and how powerful they are today compared to what the best models did 2 years ago. If you want to stay absolute bleeding edge model wise, sure you'll be stuck at a data center for some time...
Why isn't this just kinda seen as a repeat of the original birth of computers? Consider the IBM 350 (3.5mb) rented in the 50s for thousands per month. Now I have a drawer filled with SD cards that go up to 128gb that i cant even give away.