Career Advice, AI and Learning How to Code

I remember my friend Awab sharing a thoughtful reading recommendation from the LessWrong community titled You will be OK . it is both a clarification and a gentle reminder of different ways to think and act under the existential threat of AI, written as a response to concerns raised by a young community member in Turning 20 in the probable pre-apocalypse .

I enjoyed both the posts and the comments sections. there was something deeply warming about seeing fear shared openly. it made me realize that I should not overthink this. I never really overthought this fog about the future before. I was busy doing my own things, focused on work and learning. but now, seeing how this uncertainty affects people, and hearing more personal stories, it feels scarier than I initially thought.

I remember my friend Kenyata sharing similar concerns with me months ago. he consumes news and tech talks far more than I do. I usually prefer watching or attending technical lectures rather than spending my time browsing news or trends online. but I’m starting to realize that I cannot do this anymore.I cannot just grind in isolation. I need to keep up with the world and adjust accordingly.

Yesterday, an undergraduate computer science student reached out to me with a very classic question. whether she should focus more on academics or give more weight to learning how to code and building side projects. I’m usually cautious with advice.I try to understand why someone is asking me specifically, what they value, and what their situation looks like before answering.

This time, however, I hesitated at the very first layer. I realized that recent exposure to discouraging narratives around AI had affected me. for a brief moment, I questioned whether she should learn how to code in the first place. not because learning to code lacks truth, joy, or reward, but because I was suddenly unsure how it aligns with the level of abstraction we seem to be moving toward.

She was unlucky to ask me at this exact moment. I’m still unpacking what this new era means and how time itself may feel different going forward. that hesitation could have easily led to inaction on my part. I could have said something like “it does not make sense to learn how to code now”. but I’m not certain that is true. so instead,I told her to do both. to learn how to code, and at the same time stay aware and adjust as the landscape shifts.

I’m not an expert.I do not closely follow the news.I am usually the last to notice when a trend exists. my own career is currently among the least likely technical roles to be affected in the short term, but even that is not guaranteed. from now on,I think any career advice I give will carry some consideration of the AI threat. not as a reason for inaction, but as a constraint to adapt to.

And if I did not mention it explicitly before, it is because I have always treated AI as a worry about it later problem, but now the loss of time invested in learning and not having a reward is much scarier to worry about things later, as it gets this real.