AI has reprogrammed me

Source: Dev.to

Feeling Reprogrammed

It’s quite scary how reluctant I feel to dive into JS or Python coding since I started watching Claude Code do it. I’m happy enough to guide the process and examine changes made to the code, but actually spending hours writing the stuff—meh. All this in a couple of short months makes years of practice feel like nothing. I’ve been reprogrammed. I wonder how many others feel the same way once they, too, have been utterly outclassed by AI. Some still carry on wanting to code, but I suspect they’re a shrinking minority.

Adapting to AI‑Assisted Coding

It’s a bit like crafts such as woodworking or embroidery. Some people do them as a hobby, for fun or relaxation, but when productivity becomes an issue there’s no way to compete with AI. Better to develop the ability to guide the process, spot errors, and help fix them. Your experience is not lost—it transforms into new skills.

New Essential Skills

One of the must‑have skills now is speed‑reading. There’s no way to follow Claude’s thinking without it, as it’s almost impossible to study each sentence as the screen scrolls past. You need pattern‑recognition that works on large blocks of moving text. Some are better at this than others, but everyone can improve with practice.

Preserving Human Insight

Few of us are the coding gods we once believed ourselves to be. Programming has always made us stand out from the crowd, and to maintain that distinction we have to adapt—fast.

A good friend of mine is a proofreader by profession; he can spot swapped letters or a misplaced apostrophe in a full page of text at a glance. Musicians can hear a wrong note from a single instrument in an orchestra. Likewise, most good programmers can instinctively home in on poor code without even thinking about it. Our coding skills need not be wasted; they just need to evolve with a rapidly changing world.

Guiding AI, Not Trusting It Blindly

We must resist the temptation to take AI engines on trust. Be picky; make them work hard to please you—whether it’s style factors like open text with lots of whitespace, choice of variable names, or replacing deep indenting with functions. Keep nagging them until the output is just right for you. That way you preserve your self‑respect. You may not be able to churn out code at factory speed, but you can certainly tell when it isn’t right.

Conclusion

AI is here to stay. Don’t be intimidated and don’t pretend you can carry on without it. Embrace it and prove that things go better when you are at the helm. Accept the inevitable reprogramming of yourself and take control of it.