Coding agents taking over my skills
Posted by QualityOk6614@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 11 comments
Hey guys, I been using Claude code and GitHub copilot a lot more to write code, especially for my internship because I need to get work done in strict deadlines where I have to use coding agents and if I don’t, it would probably take me 2 weeks to do something Claude code would do in just one day. The problem is, I feel like I’m
Not learning the programming languages anymore. Sometimes I feel like I have no idea what kind of Js code I’m looking at. I’ve become more of a tester and guiding the ai agents to do the work and less of a programmer. Anyone else also feels this way? Or am I the only one. I’m scared this is hurting my future as I’m not developing coding skills.
bluffking1@reddit
This literally comes up every single day. Are the mods ever gonna do something lol
RaguraX@reddit
Yes, I feel this too. But I was able to take on an extra project at work as a solo developer which I could never have done without the help of AI, simply because it’s just a huge productivity boost. I can’t write boilerplate code faster than it produces it, or write tests at nearly the same speed. Refactors are another thing it excels at.
HolyPommeDeTerre@reddit
Bias is strong in our brain.
Tldr: dev thinks they save 24% time. Dev actually loses 19%.
Source : https://metr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-study/
Writing code isn't important, it's not the issue. LLMs do only fix a non problem. It makes us lazy instead. So don't let them take the easiest part. Give them the hardest part.
L30N1337@reddit
I'm actually saving time. Not much, but that little bit better and little bit further code completion comes in handy.
speedyrev@reddit
Never let AI write code you don't understand. Ask the LLM to explain each step. Use it like a teacher.
Does your employer know you are using AI? We have strict rules about AI code in production.
434f4445@reddit
I have said this so many times on so many subreddits. Stop using AI it doesn’t help you. It makes people dumber. You’re not actually learning because you’re not actually doing. You can’t be good at software dev if you let a machine do all the work.
frameclowder@reddit
I agree to some extent but the issue now is that AI is so prevelant that managers are setting tighter deadlines as they're expecting you to use AI.
Flimsy-Combination37@reddit
they're wrong then, and using ai is not the solution there either, as using ai will actually slow you down as shown in the article linked by another commenter
frameclowder@reddit
Not saying they're right, just saying it's direction things are going in. I've experienced AI making my life harder countless times.
Due-Influence0523@reddit
You’re definitely not the only one. I’m still learning too, and the thing that helps me is treating AI output like a solution walkthrough, not the final answer.
After it writes something, I try to explain each function back to myself and rewrite small parts without looking. It’s slower, but it makes me feel less like I’m just clicking approve on code I don’t understand.
mooglinux@reddit
This is very much a concern for me too, and I’m a senior dev. I don’t think there’s an answer besides setting the AI down and doing it yourself for as much of the work as you can.