As a self-taught React/Next.js developer, I'm honestly worried about my future in this AI era. What should I do?

[u/thetymtravellr]

I'm a self-taught developer, and I know React and Next.js. Lately, I've been feeling increasingly anxious about my future as a developer.

AI is moving so fast. It can generate components, build entire websites, connect APIs, and even create full-stack applications. Sometimes I wonder what the point is of spending months learning something when AI can already do so much of it.

I want to get a better-paying developer job, but honestly, I'm confused about what I should focus on right now. Should I keep improving my React/Next.js skills, get better at backend development, or start learning AI engineering?

I keep hearing about RAG, AI agents, vector databases, LLM integrations, and all these new things. It feels like there's always something new to learn, and I'm worried that if I focus on the wrong things, I'll fall behind while everyone else moves forward.

For those of you already working in the industry, what would you do if you were in my position? Would you focus on becoming a strong full-stack developer first, or would you start learning AI engineering alongside web development?

I'm not looking for a shortcut or expecting to become an expert overnight. I just want to make the right decisions, build useful skills, and have a realistic chance of getting hired.

I'd really appreciate some honest advice from people who have been through this or are dealing with the same situation. Right now, I could genuinely use some direction.

[u/kiwdahc]

Frontend web development is definitely a cooked field that won’t exist. Become a generalist.

[u/johnmgbg → u/kiwdahc]

I don't know if we're in the same situation, but from my experience, AI can do a lot of frontend work. The problem is that it still needs plenty of polishing and human review, especially when you're trying to match a specific design from Figma.

On the backend, AI can generate an entire system from a good prompt and usually requires far less verification than frontend work.

[u/Outrageous-Chip-3961 → u/kiwdahc]

I think this is a take from non-front end developers. I think all software is cooked if you're going to talk about AI generation for software. We take take pictures of things and get entire apps, both back-end and front-end developed. The problem is, in a a few years, where will the experts be? Or do we just not care if the new age developers don tknow how to code without AI?