It is good to learn it, but I would not recommend to learn it as a "first" programming language. The language *can* be used and taught to beginners, but normally it is not done so. People using and teaching C++ usually assume that they are talking to "expert programmers", or at least that you have studied programming with some other language before.

C, on the other hand, is fine to pick up "directly", because there are plenty of books, courses, etc. that are designed for you to learn C in a "beginner friendly" way.

I find it very demotivating when people say working with AI is more important than learning a programming language itself.

I would advise not listening to this kind of advice. Generative AI is a tool. But if someone is saying that it is the most important tool, then that person is either spouting either folly or is somehow being paid by AI companies to say that. Or else it could be AI generated text itself designed to increase AI hype.

In any case, when we are learning to do something, it pays a lot of dividends to do it "yourself" and to "get your hands dirty". In particular, this means that you should actively avoid using AI when you are learning. Why? So that you can get good at actually writing the code. If, after you've learned, you find AI a useful tool to use, then by all means, use it.

This is kind of analogous to using a GPS in your car. Suppose you want to be good at navigating the roads and driving the car. Then you should train your navigation skills by first turning it off in the beginning (e.g. reading the signs and so on, and paying attention to the road). But after you have trained enough, it is fine to use a GPS. I think this is what most driving schools do nowadays. At the age when I learned to drive, we did not have GPS in most or any cars. It was not a thing that people commonly used.

This will be similar for "auto driving features" as they become more intelligent and more prominent. To actually be good at driving (or programming), you need to train doing the thing that you want to get good at. If you just push a button and try to automate some machine to do it for you, then of course you'll never reach the skill that you want.