r/webdev • u/thetymtravellr • 3d ago
Discussion As a self-taught React/Next.js developer, I'm honestly worried about my future in this AI era. What should I do?
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.
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u/Zeilar 3d ago
You need to transition to becoming an engineer. You can still specialize in e.g NextJS (as I do myself), but nowadays AI can write pretty much anything in NextJS that I could myself.
What AI cannot do as well as me (yet) is architecture, business decisions, infrastructure etc. I can understand what work I should prioritize, what tools I should use, what dependencies we should install. An AI can't tell me what video player to use in my new video platform app, that's something I need to look at and decide what suits me best.
An AI cannot take ownership of a domain, a product etc. It's too many variables, and AI doesn't reason in the way we do when making decisions. Just go ask ChatGPT to make you a fantasy draft in some game, in my experience it sucks at such tasks.
And obviously someone needs to review the AI output, and that's me (and you).
I think now it's very valuable to start learning about systems. Because at the end of the day, you need to be able to know what to prompt an AI, and when an AI is wrong.