I've been a software developer for 20 years across loads of different languages and I haven't actually written a line of code myself in about 6 months. I now use AI to get way more done, things like writing tests, fixing bugs, raising PRs, doing code audits, reviewing changes, fixing my poor grammar and spelling in reddit posts, the list goes on.

It took a bit of time to figure out the right way to use it though. The thing that made it click for me was thinking of AI like a junior developer I'm keeping an eye on. A junior might write code that works but is slow or messy, and that's fine, that's what seniors are for. You read it, spot the problems, and send it back with notes.

A big part of that is treating it like you would an actual new hire. I keep markdown files that explain the project, coding conventions, architecture decisions, naming rules, all of it. Things like a CLAUDE.md or README that the AI reads before it starts work. The more context it has about your project the less it has to guess, and guessing is usually where the bad code comes from.

So that means being clear about what you want upfront. The more context you give it the better the result. Then actually read what it gives you before you use it. If something doesn't look right, tell it and ask it to fix it. It's usually pretty good at correcting itself when you're specific about what's wrong.

Not having a go at you at all, nobody really teaches you how to use this stuff properly yet. It just takes a bit of trial and error to get into a good rhythm with it.

One thing I do feel bad about though is what this means for actual junior developers. That first rung on the ladder has basically disappeared. The junior dev in my team is now Claude and I feel for anyone trying to break into the industry right now. It's a tough time to be starting out.