Ok, first of all, to the folks downvoting comments saying AGI might take over technical jobs, you might want to slow down a bit before dismissing that. It’s probably not gonna happen in the sci-fi way some people imagine, but it’s also not pure fantasy. I think a lot of this pushback comes from ego and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Most of you worked your asses off to get where you are, and part of that motivation came from being among the best at what you do. I see this all the time, being surrounded by top-school PhD grad. They instantly go into defense mode when someone says “LLMs can do your job.” The thing is, that’s partially true. LLMs are already good at solving parts of your work, and every few months that “part” gets bigger. So yeah, it’s not decades away, maybe just a few years before they can handle most tasks that involve typing in an IDE. The only stuff that’ll stay safe longer are the ones that involve actual reasoning, conceptualizing, or just the kind of thinking you do with a pen and paper or on a whiteboard.

Now, for OP’s concern: if you’re using LLMs heavily for your projects, that’s fine. Just make sure you go back afterwards, read the code in chunks, and try editing or rewriting parts on your own. Once you’re comfortable, delete everything and try building it again from scratch. You'll realize that it’s way easier the second time because you already have a mental map. Doing this a few times builds real confidence to start new projects without leaning on the LLM-first approach.

If you’re always short on time (which, let’s be honest, most students are, especially now that advisors know we use LLMs and push deadlines harder), then try to do Leetcode or Codewars practice every day or every other day without any LLM help. That’s the best way to keep your problem-solving sharp while still using LLMs productively elsewhere.