AI coming for tech jobs

Is AI Gunning for My Tech Job? A 10-Year Developer's Perspective

Let me set the scene: it's a Wednesday night, and I'm in my home office—a desk covered in a suspicious number of coffee mugs (some empty, some... questionable). I'd just finished squashing a particularly nasty bug in a Golang API, and to unwind, I did what any reasonable software developer does after a long day of coding: I started reading more about coding. Classic me.

As I scrolled through my usual lineup of blogs, newsletters, and Reddit threads, I stumbled on a discussion about AI potentially replacing software developers. Not just the junior-level "fix my StackOverflow copy-paste" developers—all of us. Yes, even those of us with more than a decade under our belts.

Now, I've been around long enough to know that tech loves a good overreaction. (Remember when PHP was declared dead every year for the past decade? Yeah, me too.) But this AI stuff? It feels different. So naturally, I spiraled.

The “I Know Too Much” Problem

Here's the thing: when you've been in the game for over 10 years, you don't just know one language or framework. I've built production apps in PHP, switched gears to Node.js, dabbled in Python for automation, and even fell in love with Golang for its simplicity and speed. I've seen trends come and go, watched entire tech stacks rise and fall, and been around long enough to contribute to the open-source communities I love.

But with AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot or ChatGPT stepping into the mix, I couldn't help but wonder: does this mean all that experience, all those late-night debugging marathons, all the "it worked on my machine" moments... don't matter anymore?

First-Hand Encounters with AI

To be fair, I've already been using AI tools myself. GitHub Copilot? Absolute game-changer for boilerplate code. ChatGPT? Great for debugging obscure errors that somehow only appear when you're on a tight deadline.

It's not replacing me—it's speeding me up.

For now.

But then I remember how fast this stuff evolves. AI isn't just spitting out code snippets anymore—it's generating entire applications, optimizing queries, and even refactoring codebases. Sure, it still makes mistakes (like confidently suggesting eval() in 2024—thanks, but no thanks), but its pace of improvement is wild.

What AI Can't Do

Let's be honest: AI is great at solving well-defined problems. Need a quick script to parse JSON? Done. Want a REST API scaffold? Easy. But when it comes to navigating messy, real-world projects? That's where things get tricky.

Because here's the truth about software engineering: most of our job isn't just writing code. It's understanding the nuances of a client's requirements when they change their minds for the fourth time. It's knowing when a "quick hack" will snowball into tech debt versus when it's worth the shortcut. It's dealing with legacy systems that look like they were written by someone's dog.

AI doesn't have intuition. It doesn't understand the chaos of real-world constraints or the delicate politics of a code review. And let's not forget the human element—convincing a team to rewrite a critical feature for scalability when the PM is shouting about deadlines? That takes more than a well-structured algorithm.

AI Won't Kill Open-Source (I Hope?)

One of my favorite parts of being a dev is contributing to open-source communities. There's something deeply satisfying about fixing a bug in a library you rely on, or helping shape a tool that thousands of others will use.

AI can't replace the sense of shared purpose in open-source. Sure, it can crank out patches or suggest optimizations, but the magic of open-source is in its collaboration—the discussions, the debates, the shared desire to build something bigger than yourself.

Unless AI suddenly develops a passion for coding on the weekends (and a strong opinion about tabs vs. spaces), I think this space will remain distinctly human.

A 10-Year Retrospective

If I've learned anything in my decade-plus of coding, it's that our industry thrives on change. PHP taught me patience (and how to hate inconsistent function naming). Golang taught me elegance. Node.js taught me how to handle callbacks without losing my sanity (thank you, async/await).

And now, AI is teaching me how to embrace tools that push the boundaries of what's possible.

When I think about the future, I don't see myself being replaced by AI. Instead, I see myself evolving alongside it. Maybe I'll spend less time writing boilerplate code and more time focusing on architecture. Maybe I'll mentor junior devs who are better at prompting AI than I am at writing regex. Who knows?

My New Mantra: Adapt or Be Left Behind

The more I think about it, the more I realize that AI isn't a threat—it's a wake-up call. It's forcing me to reevaluate what I bring to the table as a developer. Am I just someone who knows how to write efficient loops, or am I someone who can solve problems creatively, manage complexity, and bring a human perspective to tech?

I'd like to think it's the latter.

What's Next?

For now, I'll keep doing what I've always done: learning, adapting, and (occasionally) yelling at my monitor. I'll explore ways to integrate AI into my workflow without losing sight of what makes this job so rewarding—the challenge, the creativity, and the sheer joy of making something work.

Because if there's one thing I've learned from a career in tech, it's this: change isn't something to fear. It's something to embrace.

The Final Question

So, is AI going to take my job? Maybe some parts of it. But the parts that matter? The ones that require creativity, intuition, and empathy? I don't think so.

At least, not yet.

What about you? Are you leaning into the AI hype, or does it feel like Skynet's just around the corner? Let's chat—I'll bring the coffee, you bring the comments. ☕