When AI writes almost all code, what happens to software engineering? There is grief involved for us developers, that's for sure.

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AI is increasingly writing most production code, faster and often better than developers, especially in unfamiliar languages. This shift brings a sense of loss for engineers who invested years mastering the craft of coding. The satisfaction of being "in the zone" while solving complex problems may evolve into higher-level thinking and instructing AI agents, fundamentally changing what it means to be a software engineer.

The grief when AI writes most of the code

Change is rarely easy. I wonder when Grace Hopper invented the first version of the compiler if engineers felt similar about no longer needing to read machine language. Ultimately they were freed up to focus on more interesting problems to solve.

Interesting article. I can feel where the op is coming from. I have been in this field for over 30 years. Been coding for over 40 years.
There were days I was in the zone and days I couldn’t code a simple bubble sort.
I however don’t allow AI to control me. I still review the AI code like it is a JR developer. I use it as a tool like any other tool that I use, such as sonarqube, open vas, resharper etc…
I still believe that you do need to be, as <a href="https://app.daily.dev/feforeboot" data-mention-id="VfIid9MhsIe2ZUE7Gq9Vp" data-mention-username="feforeboot" translate="no">@feforeboot</a> put it, a code monkey and an engineer. Being one without the other creates an unbalance and leads to instability.

I assume you mean code monkeys, not engineers. Engineers value creating systems, not memorizing syntax.

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Or perhaps with AI agents, being “in the zone” will shift to thinking about higher-level problems, while instructing more complex code to be written?
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This is how I feel it’s already shifting for me. I get a much more in “the zone” guiding an agentic coder than doing the small scale problem solving as I felt before the chatbot helpers. But that’s just me. On the flip side there’s the issue of losing scope of what you are doing.

As an up and coming frontend developer (also going full stack), I sometimes get scared into thinking if the job will still be available for the next 10 years. But I also realized that this AI generation will produce a new breed of developers who uses AI as a tool making the workflow easier. I guess the idea of “ship or be shipped” applies to this scenario.
No one knows the future but if I keep on shipping my projects and using AI as a tool to learn and build better, maybe a secure job will still be coming our way.