Senior Dev Confessions: Your AI Dependency is DESTROYING Your Career

As someone who began their professional career in 2006 using C# with Windows Forms and later WPF, I've witnessed significant changes in the developer landscape.

I still remember how challenging it was to find worthwhile content or a mentor willing to teach beginners from scratch. The reality remains unchanged: companies want you to have experience even as a fresh graduate.

Back then, I had to invest considerable time learning C# through books and building software. I set myself a challenge: "I will create 100 applications, starting from the basics and progressing to what I considered complex at the time - building a WPF application using MVVM and PRISM" (a framework later archived by Microsoft).

The purpose was to develop a habit that I knew would help me in the future: getting accustomed to starting and finishing projects. Even if the code wasn't perfect or didn't follow best practices, the constant practice and increasing complexity of my applications helped me grow as a software developer.

I did this consistently from 2006, starting with the classic calculator and progressing to a WPF application using OpenGL to graph parabolas and other curves - all without AI or YouTubers, just blogs, books, and dedication.

In 2024, after interviewing various candidates, I've noticed an unhealthy dependence on Copilot or ChatGPT, with candidates repeating my interview questions as if I wouldn't notice. These interviews were conducted as favors for friends with companies in the US, and I'm genuinely concerned about future generations.

If you're reading this and just starting in software development, I have two key suggestions:

1. Don't rely on AI - it will make you less capable, lazy, and technically weak.

2. Get comfortable solving problems - after all, that's what software developers do.

Additional advice:

• Avoid depending solely on tutorials. While they might seem helpful for learning basics or theory, real software development varies for each developer, and you'll encounter problems not covered in tutorials or courses.

• Most importantly: Learn to start something and finish it.

I'm disappointed to see how AI is affecting the new generation of developers, similar to how phones have impacted people - making them lazier and overwhelmed with information, where barely half is accurate.

AI should be used as an assistant for topics you already master perfectly, not as a solution for everything in your life.