Ask HN: I feel like I've lost my motivation to continue learning programming
Hello,
I'm a Computer Engineering student, this is something I've been asking around because I want to make sure I am doing a right choice before changing. To be clear, I don't dislike programming at all, but I’ve been grappling with a worry that is killing my motivation to continue learning to a deeper level of it.
Now, I know my fair share of C/C++ and can handle intermediate concepts like pointers and memory management. However, I no longer have the drive to manually code entire projects from scratch.
Recently, faculty at my school have been discussing how AI is shifting the programmer's role from an architect and builder to just architect, where the AI becomes the builder. I already have seen people showing this here. For example, someone I know recently constructed a basic Operating System (kernel/userspace separation, scheduler, POSIX like syscalls, etc.) by guiding Claude to code it based on the OS theory that he has being studying himself. The fact that a student could pull that off with or AI assistance is impressive, but it also makes me wonder the following.
What is the point of me grinding to build/learn to build full blown programs manually if I can guide an AI to do it for me, provided I know the fundamentals? This has really led me to consider changing my major to either another engineering major that is more "real world" focused, or going to study a double major in physics/chem.
I love building things. The thing is I don't see why teach myself code beyond this, just so that in the end, by 2030 what means being a software engineer already changed. It is happening already as far as I can see.
Now, I am not trying to say that AI will replace developers entirely, or that computer related majors are dead or anything, but for example, with Meta starting to do changes to their interviews, and other companies following after them, the role of what these used to be is shifting fast.
What we call "AI" has only been mainstream for about 3 years and is already at this level. By the time I graduate in another 3 years, tools might be able to handle hallucinations and edge cases much better. AI is not a thinking things, in the end is somewhat of a predictor, which can get better as time goes on.
Anyway these are the things that are in my mind. I really would like advice of people that are actually in the industry or in research to tell me what they think, thank you.
You are thinking in the right direction; a lot of experienced developers are also thinking the same way.
The goal is not to become specifically a buggy-whip manufacturer or a specialist mill-worker; the goal is to have enough mental faculties and critical-thinking skills to adapt to any situation and be able to use any tool at hand to achieve your own goals and that of the employer.
Being a software architect means you actually need to gain depth in certain aspects of software development and computer science/engineering, and understand how an LLM works, what its weak points are, and to stop it from making mistakes. The point of double-majors is to expand your breath, not your depth.
You need both, depth and breadth, and thankfully LLM tools can help you in gaining both a lot quicker.
For some reason, I had the opposite effect due to AI - previously I enjoyed building things but hated the actual writing of code part. Now that AI can do that for me, I can keep my focus on the more important problems, and let AI deal with the lower-level stuff.
Your focus should be on gaining enough competence to solve hard problems by yourself, and in teams; and to learn how to learn. I would not worry too much about semantics of job roles - roles might change, but work (whatever that might be) will always be there, and you need to know how to do difficult types of work well.
Even if AI hadn't shown up, I would have recommended you get away from programming. Do something you love, something you'd attempt even if they didn't pay you. Since you like to build, consider electrical engineering. You might even find that something with less of a learning curve like carpentry or HVAC can make you very happy.
Do you like other engineering field? Sometimes most of the courses can be transferred.