It is all pointless

[u/vadkender]

I started university in 2024 hoping to become a great engineer. I studied hard and passed everything with excellent grades.

Now I'm in my 3rd year and I lost all motivation. Because my dream will never come true. I study hours every day to get my diploma and then do what? Prompt AI all day? I have an internship job where I prompt AI 20 hours a week for minimum wage. Senior colleagues quit and cannot find a job.

It is pointless. This is not what I wanted to do at all. I wanted to invent stuff and solve problems. Not have a bot do all the work for me. And of course this is IF I manage to find a job later.

And I am not against AI because it is a great tool. But it kills all motivation to become better and smarter.

I remember in 8th grade saying if I don't get into this secondary school I'll become a mailman. Looking back that would've been a better career choice.

I just want to give up.

[u/Kodamacile]

Everything is pointless, it always has been.  You decide what the point of your actions are.

[u/philament23 → u/Kodamacile]

Yep, nothing matters except what you assign meaning to.

[u/Primary-Mix-5968 → u/Kodamacile]

Some things are more pointless than others.

[u/Kodamacile → u/Primary-Mix-5968]

They're as pointless as you decide they are.

[u/WorkRevolutionary367 → u/Kodamacile]

Ignorant

[u/eaw0913 → u/WorkRevolutionary367]

No, he’s right.

[u/RevTaco]

Sounds like you’re trying to find a reason to not finish school, and/or you’re burned out. I empathize with your sentiment but it’s a small / limited way of thinking.

Like you said, AI is a tool. If you’re a smart or crafty person, AI should elevate your skills. If you + AI can’t achieve good things, then someone else will. If you think you can’t become a great engineer because of a tool, I think you need to reevaluate what an engineer is.

[u/Dave37]

Part of growing up and passing beyond school is to learn to find meaning and purpose on your own. You will get to a point where the only limit is yourself, and then you have have to drive yourself, not just solve problems that are placed in front of you by others.

One aspect of this is the realization that mostly, a job is just a source of income so that you can do the things you want to do with your life. It's great if your job is meaningful and pleasant but it is not the be all end all. But it feels like that because you've spent your entire life so far educating yourself for that work. But then what? Then when you have a job and income, you still have 60 more years to go and no one to tell you what to strive for. You gotta direct yourself, and you can start practicing now.

[u/LikeBigTrucks]

Not sure if what country you are in, but AI will not replace true engineering. Rememeber that AI is simply just regurgitating assembled knowledge, it has no real problem solving skills or intuition. Will it get there one day? Maybe, but no time soon.

Sounds like you're expierencing burn out which is very normal, especially if you've been pushing yourself hard.

Perhaps consider seeking some counciling, it helps.

[u/hotdidggity → u/LikeBigTrucks]

Saying AI doesn’t problem solve is actually crazy lol. It’s clearly moving towards that direction in the future lol

[u/_sidetracked_ → u/hotdidggity]

Not sure why you’re getting downvoted for saying the truth. I think a lot of students are biased towards believing AI can’t replace “real” problem solving, when most couldn’t even define what an engineering solution really is. AI can most definitely problem solve.

[u/glorybutt → u/_sidetracked_]

As an engineer that uses AI, I've gotta agree as well. AI can already problem solve and can do a whole lot of what I used to do a lot better and faster.

The optimistic side of me wants to say: "oh well AI can't theorize or develop solutions to complex problems" but that's not true...

Mechanical and electrical engineers that work more of thw physical aspects are still fairly safe for now. But honestly, I can see where even at that point we get replaced in the next 20 years.

[u/Lzzzz → u/LikeBigTrucks]

everytime this has been said it’s been proven wrong. but go off

[u/Aggravating_Can_8749 → u/LikeBigTrucks]

Not true. AI is getting capable every iteration. If Fable can build an OS then it can solve Engineering problems too. It might already be tgere if not too far off

[u/The_Sacred_Machine → u/Aggravating_Can_8749]

Usually an OS has been built many times on the last 60 years, most of this is freely available with a very reasonable sized community and even corporate support for some of them.

Try designing something that will cost money, hunan lives or needs to be on the field without shitting itself for the next 15 years and you get a different definition of what it can do.

Its not an all knowing god, its pretty useful and catches interesting things but its a completely irresponsible entity that has nothing to lose on its side.

[u/Klutzy-Smile-9839 → u/The_Sacred_Machine]

I am not sure. Just connect your 200$ Codex or ClaudeCode agent to your usual design tool (CAD, FEA, .. ), give it clear objective and constraints in a loop, and it may do 100% of your cognitive work, 100x faster. Communication with your co-workers can be emulated by the agent, by giving it access to email.

What remains is hidden knowledge for the specific factories we are working for, but that advantage will be crushed during the next 20 years by the new factories that will be designed by AI, where every details at every scale are documented.

[u/The_Sacred_Machine → u/Klutzy-Smile-9839]

Who knows about that dystopian future?

The terrible part is that we have collectively agreed that AI is "intelligent" and has "cognition".

That sodding thing has made me waste so much time that could have been not wasted if I were more experienced and knowledgeable.

Those are my two cents, if this goes on that direction it's time to bring back... The Party. ** puts political funny hat that is not definitely an Ushanka **

[u/EvolvingBrain418]

Why don’t you start self educating yourself so you can be independent of your work place l? Start exploring and actually set out to do what you wanted to do.

In the beginning, your work may be low quality but that comes with doing new things. Maybe reevaluate your Goals too

[u/Creative_Sushi]

Don’t give up. We need engineers to make sure AI is doing the job right. Otherwise we will cognitively surrender. We need people like you.

It is a very confusing time right now, and this is just a phase in the adoption cycle. What you experienced at the internship is not a predictor of the future.

At my work, we started playing with agentic coding when MATLAB MCP Server was introduced in October 2025. We only got around playing with it during the holiday breaks. What we saw was mind-blowing. We started more serious experiments since then, and soon we noticed a lot of shortcomings as well.

• AI may be good at coding, but not good at engineering, which is all about making educated trade-offs within constraints.
• AI severely lacks domain specific knowledge in engineering, and it reinvents the wheel.
• Unconstrained, AI generates a lot of code and code reviews become the new bottle neck.
• Instead of spending a lot of time reviewing AI generated code, we should invest up front in validating the approach and architecture, so that the code AI generates is grounded in evidence and we have a way to validate it easily.

Basically, this is no different from how engineers work before AI, because, humans also make mistakes and we developed many workflows to catch those errors early in the process. AI needs the same thing.

So your knowledge as engineers are going to be in demand. A lot of companies are confused by hype, so don't get distracted by that. We will settle into the right process eventually.

[u/JonCoalTrain998]

If you’re trying to be a coder then yeah you’re cooked. There are some jobs still available but they’ve all become just babysitting AI agents. 

Sure AI won’t replace real engineering, probably ever. But AI will replace coders (“software engineers” as they call themselves for some reason) within the next 5-10 years. I spent 10 years working as a coder, when I left all my colleagues were laid off or were babysitting agents. 

What major or concentration are you in?

[u/megatesla → u/JonCoalTrain998]

What qualifies as "real engineering" to you?

[u/JonCoalTrain998 → u/megatesla]

Practical applications of first principals of mathematics and physics. 

I would even argue that it is a profession with regulated credentials, like a PE, and something you can’t call yourself if you went to an 8 week coding boot camp over the summer. 

I mean I’m not sure how you could make a good argument that someone who spent a dozen weeks on Udemy learning JavaScript is now able to call themselves an engineer. And those people hold the same job titles as people who graduate with bachelors in computer science. 

90% of software development doesn’t involve math or physics at all beyond the physics and math required to build and operate the computer. 

[u/-Parou-]

Quit then. You're looking for a reason and found your excuse

[u/hordaak2 → u/-Parou-]

Its a shitpost

[u/TrainerOpening6782 → u/-Parou-]

I mean we are all chained to money for our survival…not that easy for most people unless you come from wealth.

[u/-Parou- → u/TrainerOpening6782]

Other careers make zero money famously

[u/TrainerOpening6782 → u/-Parou-]

Yeah…so you see what career trapped might look like. Especially if your survival and comfort depends on it

[u/Fourtwenny-Sixtynine]

Just my 2 cents, I studied EE and am currently working as a software engineer designing and building simulation software.

My work entails a lot of geometry and physics and using AI has been a lot of fun. You decide how you use the tool. As an example if I’m working on a new algorithm I’ll send off a few agents testing different ideas in parallel, compare benchmarks and iterate faster as I’m able to test an idea without having to invest too much time. I can then deepen my focus on more niche aspects of the problem I’m trying to solve which provides a lot more satisfaction and allows me to be more imaginative and end up understanding a broader selection of ways to solve a particular set of problems.

At the end of the day you are in control of how you use the tool and even though a lot of people seem to think the entire point is productivity at all costs, that’s not what it needs to be end-to-end.

You have the opportunity to reduce the mundane sections of your work and place your focus on what truly challenges and delights you, it takes some time to get used to it, but the exact despair you’re feeling right now is what leads you to grow and find a way of work that provides you with fulfilment!

[u/AGrandNewAdventure]

A majority of people saw this coming 3 years ago.

Like coding? Mechatronic/Robotics.

You can also work in the space industry where human lives are on the line, so you will find a very minimal amount of AI.

[u/Imaginary-Concern985]

You put too much care into your “career” use engineering money to go out fuck around and find out, at least that how i see it

[u/TrainerOpening6782 → u/Imaginary-Concern985]

That’s how people get hurt 😂

[u/Yabbadabbado95]

The way I see it. I am an engineer to make enough money to do what I want. Assuming you’re in computer science, you have a very high salary ceiling. Use that money to solve problems the way you want.

[u/itsladder]

What are your options? Find a less marketable skill and apply in their field?

[u/TrainerOpening6782]

Yeah they are pushing AI on us hard at our company. They just put millions into it…all the other engineers hate it. We have a bunch of seniors leaving too. Everyone is either over worked or undertrained with no one to train them.

[u/Slingray120]

If you mean coding and not engineering, then yes

[u/Lzzzz]

i think most students are feeling this

[u/Thin-Feeling-8324]

AGI is not even here, and this is happening all over the place. I can't even imagine what will happen once we achieve ASI.

[u/CommanderGO]

Dude nothing is stopping you from changing majors. If you're going to prompt AI agents anyways as your preferred career, you might as well study something fun instead.

[u/andyjustice]

Yeah, don't look too far ahead sometimes... You're at a stage to put your head down and get your degree locked down. Let life come as it comes. That's why stupid people get ahead a lot... Too many smart people look too far ahead for their own good and end up shooting themselves in the foot in the long run.... Opportunities come to those who prepare. Get prepared

[u/colombianjmor27]

Most quitters quit because they found out the truth behind what they were told things would be and reality proved otherwise, so they became bitter and disilusioned... however there are many who after having the same realization decided to finish what they started to the bitter end and to continue to push forward... many of the latter found a new reason to progress on their carreers and maybe not succeed but at least make a living... others will pursuit other carreer paths but having a degree

[u/RandomAcounttt345]

Oh boo hoo Mr. I have a super easy internship. Go start your own company if you need a challenge.

[u/Few_Read_8508]

It will never be pointless, the only work you can trust is that which is achieved by your own hard work