Programming in the Shadow of AI
- 3 minsIt’s 3 AM, and I’m staring at my screen, fingers hovering over the keyboard. The cursor blinks, mocking me. I should be coding, but instead, I’m frozen, paralyzed by a question that’s been gnawing at me for months:
Am I even a real developer anymore?
I’ve been using AI to help me code. A lot. At first, it felt like a secret weapon, a way to supercharge my productivity. But now? Now it feels like a crutch I can’t let go of. And it’s eating me alive.
The Spiral
Every time I fire up ChatGPT, Claude or let GitHub Copilot autocomplete my functions, a little voice in my head whispers: “Fraud.” It’s getting louder. I find myself second-guessing every line of code. Did I write this, or did AI? And if AI wrote it, what does that say about me?
I used to pride myself on my problem-solving skills, on those eureka moments when a solution would suddenly click into place. Now? I’m not sure I remember the last time I had one of those moments without AI prompting.
The Fear
It’s not just about feeling like a fraud. It’s the creeping dread that I’m making myself obsolete. Every day, these AI models get smarter, more capable. They’re already writing code faster and often cleaner than I can. How long until they don’t need me at all?
I lie awake at night, imagining a future where algorithms have replaced us all. Where creativity and critical thinking are relics of the past, and human developers are nothing more than quaint curiosities.
The Doubt
But it’s more than just fear of obsolescence. It’s a deeper, more existential crisis. Am I losing myself? My ability to think critically, to come up with original ideas – are these muscles atrophying while I lean on AI?
I catch myself reaching for AI assistance for even the simplest tasks now. It’s like I don’t trust my own brain anymore. And that terrifies me more than any job-stealing robot.
The Turning Point
But here’s the thing. As I sit here, pouring my fears onto this digital page, I’m realizing something. These words? They’re mine. No AI prompted them. No language model crafted them. This is me, raw and unfiltered, grappling with my fears.
And maybe that’s the key.
A New Perspective
AI isn’t going away. It’s part of our world now, part of our profession. But it doesn’t have to be the enemy. Maybe, just maybe, it can be a partner.
What if, instead of fearing AI, I embrace it as a tool to handle the mundane, freeing me to focus on the truly human aspects of development? The big-picture thinking, the creative problem-solving, the ability to understand and empathize with users in a way no AI can.
Moving Forward
I’m not going to lie and say all my fears have magically disappeared. They haven’t. But I’m starting to see a path forward:
- Use AI, but question it. Challenge its outputs, understand the ‘why’ behind its suggestions.
- Focus on developing skills AI can’t replicate – soft skills, architectural thinking, understanding business needs.
- Embrace the role of the “AI whisperer” – learning to craft the perfect prompts, to guide AI tools towards truly innovative solutions.
- Never stop learning. The more I know, the better I can harness AI’s power without being consumed by it.
The Human Element
At the end of the day, there’s one thing AI can never replicate: my unique human experience. My quirks, my intuitions, my ability to connect seemingly unrelated dots – these are what make me valuable as a developer and as a human being.
So yes, I’ll continue to use AI. But I’ll do it on my terms, as a tool to amplify my human creativity and insight, not replace it.
I am not obsolete. I am evolving. And that’s a pretty exciting thought to hold onto as I finally, finally drift off to sleep.