There was a refactor I had put off for ages for this small page: replacing Styled Components with SCSS and migrating to TypeScript. After watching a YouTube video where a project was created in just 30 minutes using AI, I decided to give it a shot.
To my surprise, I completed the entire styles and TypeScript refactor in just one hour. Did AI do everything? No! When I asked the AI to refactor my codebase, it did it in a few components and called it a day. It also changed text and couldn’t fix some TS errors. Nonetheless, I was amazed by the results. Fixed the issues, edited some files, and finally achieved a successful refactor—one that I had been postponing for quite some time.
Will AI replace developers? Not everyone, but some of us will be. Human requirements are often ambiguous so not all prompts will translate into useful code. Also new problems arise constantly, and AI may not always provide the right solutions. However, it is certainly a useful tool to increase human productivity.
My advice to fellow devs? Don’t depend completely on it. If there’s an error, try to read documentation and learn from the problem. Let AI handle repetitive tasks. Even in the pre AI era, we have had enough developers who can’t translate a simple business requirement into working code. If we stop learning, we just become assistants to code generators.
And, if everything else fails, remember: people will still need plumbers and electricians.