AI use is definitely a two edged sword. It can help us seasoned developers be much more productive, because we've seen all the anti-patterns, bad ideas, tarpits, and most "classes" of bad ideas and bad code that you can imagine; so when we get AI to generate code, we older developers can look at it, and in an instant know if it's good or bad code, most of the time.
However, for the more Junior Devs (i.e. under 10 to 15 yrs experience), their judgement about Generated Code is often simply "Does it appear to work or not." and that's a very big problem, and a very dangerous problem, that will cause lower quality code to creep in and in a way where AI may allow them to crank out tons of work, but all of it super buggy code. And most everyone would agree we'd rather have simpler, less feature rich products that are solid and reliable, rather than products that are loaded with both features and bugs.
So to all you seasoned developers out there, who have trouble getting hired, since you're over 40, your value as an employee has just quadrupled, compared to the less-experienced. The big question is, of course, how long will it take the 20ish to 30ish hiring managers to realize that, and start valuing experience and wisdom over youthfulness and good looks.
However, for the more Junior Devs (i.e. under 10 to 15 yrs experience), their judgement about Generated Code is often simply "Does it appear to work or not." and that's a very big problem, and a very dangerous problem, that will cause lower quality code to creep in and in a way where AI may allow them to crank out tons of work, but all of it super buggy code. And most everyone would agree we'd rather have simpler, less feature rich products that are solid and reliable, rather than products that are loaded with both features and bugs.
So to all you seasoned developers out there, who have trouble getting hired, since you're over 40, your value as an employee has just quadrupled, compared to the less-experienced. The big question is, of course, how long will it take the 20ish to 30ish hiring managers to realize that, and start valuing experience and wisdom over youthfulness and good looks.