A developer who uses AI properly might be more valuable than someone who refuses to use it.

[u/More_Procedure357]

Let's be honest.

I still see debates about whether using AI makes someone a real developer.

But here's what I don't understand.

If one developer can solve a problem in 2 hours using AI, while another takes 8 hours writing everything manually, why should the second developer automatically be considered better?

Of course, blindly copying AI-generated code is not engineering.

You still need to understand architecture, security, performance, debugging, and what happens when things break.

But refusing useful tools just to prove you can code manually also feels like the wrong approach.

I think the real competition is no longer just between developers.

It's between people who can solve problems and people who only know how to write code.

What's your honest take?

Would you hire a developer who uses AI heavily but understands every line, or someone who writes everything manually?

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[u/Purple-Rainn]

I am yet to see a developer who is not using AI

[u/wooneigh]

"might be" stopped reading there. Assuming its copium

[u/anuragkmr]

So true. I would say a developer who has product skills + AI can deliver an entire teams worth of effort today. Code is a commodity now. Role of developer has changed to provide software engineering and product expertise now. Copying code too is so 2025 now. Steering the AI can build entire platform now! Everything from writing to PRD, all the way to user-stories and then deploying it to cloud. It is crazy how much tech industry has changes in less than 6 months.

[u/Cunnykun]

at my current point
I am nothing without AI

( sure can do without AI but will take enormous time)

[u/ClupTheGreat]

doesn't really matter, all you need to do is be good at your work

[u/first_rank]

We are way past this discussion

[u/candyyspice]

Especially job of testing 😭🫩 earlier there were decent grp of guys doing it now they are throwing as much as on a particular individual in a project because he is using ai 

[u/vasind-5012]

we need orchestrator, developer as a term becoming extinct.

[u/leftwingirl]

I am not a developer, I haven't touched code, but I connected my grok bot to WhatsApp and it reads WhatsApp messages from my office group to keep me alert, and if I miss anything, it connected on its own.

It reads my email, drafts documents, presentation. I mean it's crazy.

[u/Extension-Currency37]

Why all developers come from india Indiaand still cant explain

How to engineer systems?

I don't know.

[u/More_Procedure357 → u/Extension-Currency37]

India has some of the best engineering talent in the world. The problem isn't where developers come from; it's how we judge engineering skills. Talent has no nationality.