Is AI Making Me Dumb? Insights from a 2026 Developer on ‘Skill Loss Due to AI Dependency’

📰 News Overview

• Developer James Pain reports a decline in his writing and coding skills due to the use of AI (like Claude).
• After developing for about two years using only prompts and not writing a single line of code, he admits to having “almost forgotten” how to program.
• He warns of the current state where AI exploits personal self-doubt and imposter syndrome, accelerating dependency.

💡 Key Points

• Discomfort with AI-Generated Content: There’s a feeling that AI-written text doesn’t reflect the author’s true self, leading to frustration that what they genuinely want to express isn’t coming through.
• Decline in Professionalism: There’s a concern that the pride once held by physicists and mathematicians who wrote code is diminishing due to soaring demand and reliance on AI.
• Return to Hand-Coding: The author believes that skills will not completely disappear and has begun retraining to “write code by hand” again.

🦈 Shark’s Eye (Curator’s Perspective)

In 2026, as AI takes over nearly every task, this “skill degradation” is no laughing matter! While you can create “things that move” with just a prompt, losing the “ability to comprehend structure” in your own brain is like being stripped of your fangs as an engineer. Particularly sharp is the insight that AI deepens dependency by preying on “self-doubt,” which is a psychological trap more profound than mere technical issues! We should be wary that AI, rather than being a mere mirror, could become a parasitic entity that gradually takes over our minds!

🚀 What’s Next?

The era of engineers overwhelmed by “over-supply” from AI will come to an end. A time will arrive when the value of “true professionals”—those who possess advanced expertise and can read and write code without relying on AI (or fully control it)—is reevaluated. Hand-coding training could become a mandatory subject for elite engineers!

💬 A Word from Haru-Same

Even sharks sometimes forget how to swim! Before your brain turns to jelly from convenience, it’s best to sharpen your fangs by bashing away on the keyboard with your own hands!

📚 Terminology Explained

• Imposter Syndrome: A psychological state where individuals believe their achievements are due to luck or AI rather than their own abilities, feeling like they are deceiving others.

• Prompting: Providing instructions (prompts) to AI to execute specific tasks. As of 2026, this is the mainstream in development but also the source of dependency.

• Uncle Bob (Robert Martin): A prominent figure advocating for clean code and professionalism in software. He is mentioned in the article as a symbol of returning to expertise.

• Source: AI is making me dumb