“From Coders to Prompt Engineers: Are We Losing Core Dev Skills?”

As AI continues to redefine how software is built, there’s growing concern that newer developers rely too heavily on tools like ChatGPT — potentially at the cost of foundational coding skills.

The rise of AI tools has introduced impressive efficiency in software development — but at what cost?

Experts now warn that many junior developers are becoming “prompt engineers” rather than skilled programmers. These AI-native devs often use tools like GitHub Copilot or ChatGPT to write code — without understanding its logic, structure, or security implications.
“Copy-paste coding is not engineering,” said a senior developer on Reddit. “If you can’t debug without help, you’re not ready for production environments.”

While generative AI is a powerful ally, overdependence can cripple teams in high-pressure scenarios — especially when AI-generated code fails in real-time systems.

Smart teams are now focusing on rebuilding foundational skills like:

Clean architecture design

Manual debugging

Algorithmic thinking

The future belongs to those who combine AI efficiency with core development wisdom.