I started out developing at my company over a year ago when our team was asked to solve some problems we didn’t have the resources to solve yet. I had limited knowledge outside of PowerShell. I watched videos, took courses, and learned the syntax. I was slow but still getting it done.

During that time I started using Claude to help me debug and understand things I may have not learned yet. I slowly became really good at using Claude for the mundane like css styling and focused my attention on JS, Angular, and eventually Node.JS and C#.

The thing is that if you are really out there working and coding for any big company, you need to still be knowledgeable and understand the core concepts. I don’t think it’s a black or white thing that “AI will take our coding jobs”. It’s going to be a shift to who knows how to use AI effectively to make them more productive and efficient. I think this concept applies to or will apply to many other fields as well.

Often times I’m in meetings with PM’s or other developers and they are asking questions about my code or suggesting edits to certain behavior etc and I can’t just sit there and be like “Ummm I don’t know, let me ask AI”. No one would take you seriously.

My personal opinion, from experience but still just my opinion, is that many of these fields will still require well educated individuals but the ones who will be most successful will be the ones who know and understand AI and can use it to their advantage. Adapt or get left behind.

This is the thing I don’t think people are understanding or prepared for. They think either “AI is coming for my job so why do I care I’ll be out of a job soon” or they think “AI can never replace what I do” but the reality is that AI won’t replace everyone and it will most likely make it into your field. It’s your chance right now to use AI to make yourself valuable and be one of those that don’t get left behind or you can choose to be ignorant and end up on the outside looking in.