Young Coders Are Using AI for Everything, Giving "Blank Stares" When Asked How Programs Actually Work

For years, the conventional wisdom for wide-eyed youngsters about to enter the job market was "learn to code." Now, it seems like some of the programmers themselves could use the same advice. That's according to Namanyay Goel, an experienced developer who's not too impressed by the new generation of keyboard-clackers' dependence on newfangled AI models. "Every junior dev I talk to has Copilot or Claude or GPT running 24/7. They're shipping code faster than ever," Goel wrote in a recent blog post, titled — fittingly — "New Junior Developers Can't Actually Code." "Sure, the code works, but ask why it works that way instead of another way? Crickets," he wrote. "Ask about edge cases? Blank stares." "The foundational knowledge that used to come from struggling through problems is just… missing," he added. No doubt chalkboard-pounding algebra teachers once grumbled about calculators, and no one would question their place now. But Goel's gripe isn't against AI necessarily — more so that ... Read full article.