Developers are getting rAIded

So this one has been eating me alive for some time now. The rapid evolution of all things relating to my current working environment, as well as the sometimes jarring practices that come with it, has kept me awake lately. It's time to finally write them all down (with some medieval fantasy music in the background to stimulate my neurons).

Since some people don't like to read a lot, which I can understand ;), I'll put this here:

Read this post for your own good. Do it in parts, in one go, or even using a screen reader. It'll help trigger your neurons that are potentially losing their signals day by day. Be critical and do not see this post as the truth. It's an opinionated piece from just one developer out there.

Issues, what issues?

First off, I want to start with giving some context on my take on 'modern' AI (think everything since Jan 1st, 2026) itself. I do think AI is a fantastic tool and support mechanism for a lot of sectors, both IT-related and non-IT-related. I see positive things happening daily and I absolutely like what these tools can bring everyone in general.

That said, within the IT sector specifically, I can see an evolution happening more and more every singular day. From people who I'll call builders having the time of their lives to people being driven insane more and more every day because of ridiculous expectations being taken too far.

It's the way AI is being used in development specifically that is bothering me so much. I see it happening to experienced people with 15-20+ years of experience and students that are still aiming to become developers (kudos to them, they have my utmost respect). There are multiple things that bother me in varying degrees so I'll try to go through them one by one in no particular order.

AI zombie apocalypse

People have stopped thinking. Yes, that is a big generalisation, but if my fears come true then that is the part I am most worried about out of all of them. AI gives developers easy choices when it asks for feedback (if your current setup even requires human interaction). It gives you A, B (maybe C) or 'other'. Let's be honest, the ease of use of just pressing enter on and on and on is making it hard to say 'other' without forcing yourself.

I see developers (myself included sometimes, until I stop myself) just pressing buttons all day. In the past, it was letters and numbers as well as brackets, special characters and more. Nowadays it's just arrow keys and enters. Thinking has come to a screeching halt and, every day this continues, people seem to be losing the ability to doubt and question more and more. That's what partially makes us human and people. Daring to go against ideas, wanting to make a new thing come true because it does not exist yet or because no-one has ever taken the steps to get there. We're going straight for a scenario where we as developers write 1 big prompt to begin with, then press arrow keys and enters until we're visually satisfied and then it's done. No more 'wasting' hours, days and weeks having existential crises to resolve a difficult problem, no more choices where you need to give yourself the answers. Choose A, B, C or 'other' and continue.

Trusting your new shiny friend with your life

Yeah, it's all new and shiny and it continues to improve day by day, but that does not mean it automatically forms the source of truth. It has been trained extensively in a lot of knowledge going from trivia to coding to (attempted) medicinal knowledge. (Please consult a doctor/specialist for that last part.) AI has vast amounts of knowledge and massive opportunities to help us find things fast and decently well.

That said, people seem to trust AI blindly way too much, giving no second thought to what they asked, if the context in which it responded was right or if the response is even possible. Things I've seen happen in the past few months are alarming. Developers around me are no longer validating the responses they get. Either they don't care enough about underlying logic, code, reasoning and they only seem to be focusing on just the visual aspect of things, or they just assume everything their AI friends say is 100% right and the ideal solution to whatever problem they have. It's more like brainy smurf, thinks it's right 100% of the time but oh how that turns out.

Writing code requires a thinking capacity that goes beyond "Does it work or not?" Think performance patterns, accessibility standards that need to be followed or more. You can't just say "it looks like it's working, [insert AI model] made it" and be done with it. Keep thinking for yourself, don't be happy with basics or only visual confirmation of 'it works'. Ask yourself if it truly works and is something you're happy with.

Not knowing what is being built

When I see some people use AI to build without confirming, without thinking and without verifying, I start wondering where this stops. I see mostly two types op people that I'll call Bobs and Johns. Bob, because of Bob the builder, represents the builders of the current development world. People that love building tools, those who care little or not at all about underlying principles and code and are happy when it all works visually.

The Johns (representing John H. Watson) are using AI as an assistant during coding jobs. These people still think critically for themselves, care about the code they deliver and are not just happy with "it works". They want details on how it works, they know most of their code and have a full overview 100% of the time. AI is nothing more than a tool. It should not decide what direction a product / feature goes towards. It's there to support us, help us understand and speed up the process of iteration.

Edit on October 22nd after writing this: Fireship's video about 2026 programmer stereotypes hits home on multiple fronts. It had me silently crying and laughing in the span of 10 seconds. Definitely recommend watching it if you want a quick video on stereotypes that fit (wiring this in october of 2026, let's see how it ages)

The job changes (again)

While I myself am part of the people that prefer using AI assistants as a tool, as support and as an aid in the ever-changing development landscape, I get the feeling that the Johns are a serious minority or are becoming endangered. I used to enjoy problems, solving them and really looking into issues. Yes, I have hit myself in the head multiple times over the past years but looking back on that only makes me smile and hey, at least I still remember those moments.

Not coding using AI is almost impossible to do in the current market. You cannot compete with the speeds of the Bobs and Johns. So I absolutely would want to use AI. But how much I allow myself to use it should be managed carefully. If I start becoming like the people in Wall-E (minimal effort, no thinking and letting AI decide my life for me), it's time for me to go do something that requires 0 brainpower instead. The joy is gone for me. The past years of learning start to feel like more and more of a waste. Especially in the current version of the development landscape and where the world is going. And that feels totally wrong.

Let developers think critically, make rational (or emotional) decisions but have them be grounded and not decided by a prediction model. Let us have the joy of coding back (maybe I should start a YouTube series on this with an afro wig :) ) and do not let us die out into boredom. Just building can be fun and is fine for private projects, internal things or projects that will never see or touch customers, but please make sure you know what goes on in your projects. Not coding every line yourself seems logical, but at least keep a mental model of the project.

Speed can be nice and speed is good for keeping stakeholders happy, but what if that speed saves weeks now and ends up costing weeks of bugs later on because it was never truly checked / looked at? Mentalities are shifting and that's great, just keep in mind that with those shifts also comes a lot of risks and dangers for the craft that is development.

I would be lying if I said that I haven't been thinking about the future. Most of it long term (as in X years) and I have no clue what is to come and what will happen to us as developers. If everything goes dark and the development jobs disappear completely, I'll be baking cheesecakes and other sweet things in my kitchen, or maybe I'll go into another field altogether and go for either nutritionist, food coaching or maybe even the bio-technological field. Those things have always fascinated me and still require me to use my brain every day.

What AI means to me

I want to finish this one by saying that I love the benefits and potential of AI, but not all is good in my mind. Maybe that's a bit of doom-thinking from me, but that's just me. I like being prepared for a lot and have clarity where I can and I do have to say that I fear the ecological aspect of AI. I fear the future where profits and speed in the short term will overshadow the drop in quality that products experience. It is my utmost wish that these fears do not go away and lure me into a false sense of security and safety. Let me stay fearful and on my toes since that is what keeps me wanting to learn more and wanting to improve.

Hopefully this post did more than just bore you or keep you reading. I sincerely meant for this to activate your neurons about yourself, your workflows and your future. If you want to reach out to me, please do! I'm always open for a good conversation. If you want my recipe for a great cheesecake, feel free to reach out as well. I'll gladly share one or two of the recipes.