Ask HN: How are you preserving your skills while using AI?
I'm a senior engineer at [Big Company], and AI tools are ever-present. There's no mandate that you need to use them, but they are so readily available that most people do anyways. There's a lot of society level concerns with AI, but on a personal level, I'm starting to slowly feel less skilled than I used to be. I can certainly do more, but I understand less. The "Prompt-Then-Review" loop of coding harnesses (Claude Code, Codex, Pi, OpenCode, Amp, etc.) just simply do not encourage mastery in the same way as shaping the code yourself. Sure, you can argue you're "thinking at a higher abstraction". But what happens when that abstraction fails? as abstractions often do. It's not a fast process this skill erasure. I'm not magically losing my ability to code overnight. However, it feels like rust. Slowly eroding the pillars until they give. This tool (currently) needs a skilled hand to guide correctly. However using the tool feels like it degrades the skilled hand. This negative feedback loop I find truly concerning from both the ability to make a living in software and the ramifications on software quality writ large. So, I ask HN. How is the community protecting their skills? especially when actively using AI. 3 comments on Hacker News.
I'm a senior engineer at [Big Company], and AI tools are ever-present. There's no mandate that you need to use them, but they are so readily available that most people do anyways. There's a lot of society level concerns with AI, but on a personal level, I'm starting to slowly feel less skilled than I used to be. I can certainly do more, but I understand less. The "Prompt-Then-Review" loop of coding harnesses (Claude Code, Codex, Pi, OpenCode, Amp, etc.) just simply do not encourage mastery in the same way as shaping the code yourself. Sure, you can argue you're "thinking at a higher abstraction". But what happens when that abstraction fails? as abstractions often do. It's not a fast process this skill erasure. I'm not magically losing my ability to code overnight. However, it feels like rust. Slowly eroding the pillars until they give. This tool (currently) needs a skilled hand to guide correctly. However using the tool feels like it degrades the skilled hand. This negative feedback loop I find truly concerning from both the ability to make a living in software and the ramifications on software quality writ large. So, I ask HN. How is the community protecting their skills? especially when actively using AI.
I'm a senior engineer at [Big Company], and AI tools are ever-present. There's no mandate that you need to use them, but they are so readily available that most people do anyways. There's a lot of society level concerns with AI, but on a personal level, I'm starting to slowly feel less skilled than I used to be. I can certainly do more, but I understand less. The "Prompt-Then-Review" loop of coding harnesses (Claude Code, Codex, Pi, OpenCode, Amp, etc.) just simply do not encourage mastery in the same way as shaping the code yourself. Sure, you can argue you're "thinking at a higher abstraction". But what happens when that abstraction fails? as abstractions often do. It's not a fast process this skill erasure. I'm not magically losing my ability to code overnight. However, it feels like rust. Slowly eroding the pillars until they give. This tool (currently) needs a skilled hand to guide correctly. However using the tool feels like it degrades the skilled hand. This negative feedback loop I find truly concerning from both the ability to make a living in software and the ramifications on software quality writ large. So, I ask HN. How is the community protecting their skills? especially when actively using AI. 3 comments on Hacker News.
I'm a senior engineer at [Big Company], and AI tools are ever-present. There's no mandate that you need to use them, but they are so readily available that most people do anyways. There's a lot of society level concerns with AI, but on a personal level, I'm starting to slowly feel less skilled than I used to be. I can certainly do more, but I understand less. The "Prompt-Then-Review" loop of coding harnesses (Claude Code, Codex, Pi, OpenCode, Amp, etc.) just simply do not encourage mastery in the same way as shaping the code yourself. Sure, you can argue you're "thinking at a higher abstraction". But what happens when that abstraction fails? as abstractions often do. It's not a fast process this skill erasure. I'm not magically losing my ability to code overnight. However, it feels like rust. Slowly eroding the pillars until they give. This tool (currently) needs a skilled hand to guide correctly. However using the tool feels like it degrades the skilled hand. This negative feedback loop I find truly concerning from both the ability to make a living in software and the ramifications on software quality writ large. So, I ask HN. How is the community protecting their skills? especially when actively using AI.
Hacker News story: Ask HN: How are you preserving your skills while using AI?
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June 09, 2026
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