I’ve been thinking about this for a while. And honestly, it’s kind of weird, but I realized that coding doesn’t feel the same anymore. Not completely. And I feel like maybe most developers out there feel this too, even if they don’t say it.
When I first started coding, everything felt… alive. You know? Your first real project, the first time you built something that actually did something cool. That was yours. You started with a blank page, typed every line, and figured out every problem. CSS wouldn’t cooperate, bugs drove you nuts, and logic failed, but when it finally worked, man, you felt it. That feeling of I built this. There’s nothing like it.
Now, AI is everywhere. And don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing. It can scaffold a project, speed up repetitive tasks, and sometimes even give you solutions you couldn’t think of yourself. When you’re burnt out, it’s a lifesaver. I’ve felt that spark return. I even thought, Wow, this is incredible, I can do so much more now.
But then, over time… it starts to feel different. The things you make don’t give you that same joy. It’s fast, sure. Correct, often. But it doesn’t feel like yours. Even if you guided it, even if you understand it fully, the end product… it doesn’t hit the same way.
Some people might say, “Well, just don’t use it. No one’s forcing you.” And yeah, technically. But here’s the thing: the industry kind of is. Companies, teams, and even small agencies, they expect developers to use AI now. Productivity is king. Deadlines move faster. If you don’t keep up, you fall behind. And it’s not because anyone’s evil, it’s just the way the world works now.
And I feel it. I think everyone does. We’re all adapting. We bend. Not because we want to, always, but because we have to. And it can be frustrating, honestly. You want to solve something yourself, to feel that ownership, but the environment nudges you toward AI anyway.
So how do we deal with it? I try to think differently now. I don’t let AI replace me where it counts. I use it for boring stuff, scaffolding, and repetitive work. But the structure, the architecture, and the core logic are mine. I want to still feel like I built this. That’s what keeps it meaningful.
For people just entering the field, I get it… it’s confusing. How much should you use AI? When does it stop being a tool and start being a crutch? Honestly, I don’t have a perfect answer. But my advice: learn the craft first. Really understand the code. Use AI to help, not to replace your thinking.
And… yeah, sometimes I feel nostalgic. I miss the nights figuring out code from scratch, the messy little victories, and the feeling that it was all mine. But we can’t go back. We adapt. And maybe, if we’re smart, we can still keep that feeling, even in a world that moves faster, even in a world that expects AI at every turn.
So yeah… that’s where I’m at. Not anti-AI. Just… trying to hold on to the part of coding that still feels real. The part that feels like yours. And I think that matters more than anything.
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