Learning to Code before & during the AI Revolution - Part 5 - What to do now?

The final part turns away from prediction and toward preparation. Nobody knows exactly how AI will reshape the industry, but certain human skills have always survived technological upheaval. This part argues that learning to code today is less about memorising tools and more about developing qualities that persist: creativity, confidence, curiosity, community, and critical thinking. The goal is not to compete with machines, but to remain useful alongside them.

At this point, a reasonable question presents itself: should you still be learning how to code at all and if you can already code what should you be doing?

It is not a trick question nor a stupid question - it is probably an important one that will be perhaps less import in 9 months time.

The short answer is yes, probably. The longer answer is that how and why you learn now matters far more than it used to.

In the short term, AI is not replacing everyone. What is already happening, though, is that fewer juniors are being hired. Senior developers, place on steroids by AI, can now do the work of multiple people. From a purely economic perspective, this makes sense. From a future of our communities perspective - it totally sucks!

It also creates a problem.

If juniors are not hired, where do future seniors come from?

The apprenticeship gap

There has never really been an ‘apprenticeship’ model in software development. Mostly it works like this: You work with a bunch of nerds like yourself who are generally terrible at communication and possibly a bit autistic. Virtually none of them are helpful in your growth. If you do find somebody - you are very lucky. Mostly you just learn what you can in whatever way you can and your grow - but at least there was scope for junior devs. If juniors are not hired anymore then how can this possibly work?

AI will get better, companies will shed more jobs and opportunity will shrink for the traditional software developer.

Kinda sucks doesn’t it? Well I’m not here to give you good news - just my perception of the truth. The reality is…. nobody really know what is going to happen but I think most of us realise it isn’t going to be great.

Look - if the World is increasingly run by the likes of Zuckerberg and Bezos - and that seems to be the case right now - then what can the rest of us do? Well you could start a business if you fancy the odds (90% will fail) - OR - you can work for the business started by the 10% - and see your income shrink to nothing.

Hmmm…. we don’t seem to be going anywhere fast here.

I suggest this: you carry on learning new stuff. If you are a developer then build stuff this year. Frankly if you aren’t you are nuts. This is the single best opportunity for developers in history and it won’t last forever. My Github profile looks like I have just sat on my computer all year in 2026.

Learn stuff, build stuff, get creative, learn AI, use AI and think about the gaps - they do exist - in fact there are some glaring gaps right now. Just think about the pace of technology and the inability of people and business to keep up - that’s opportunity right there.

What schools should be teaching

The education system is built on something that came out of the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. It is completely inadequate to prepare our children for 2026 and beyond - embarrassingly so. Schools still just focus on exam results. Learn an essay and regurgitate it. Learn these questions and topics because you will get them in your HSC. This is total and utter nonsense and teaches nothing.

Sir Ken Robinson famouly said that we are all born creative and little children are genius level when it comes to creativity. This then gets educated out of you over the next 12 or 13 years until you are afraid to try anything lest you get shouted down or ridiculed. I believe it - I experienced it.

These are the things that matter to me. I am grateful that I see them in my kids - no thanks to school though.

CREATIVITY: It matters because creative people find paths where none are obvious. They do not stop at the first obstacle. If they can intertwine PERSEVERENCE - then they are onto something.

CONFIDENCE: It matters because confident people step forward, ask questions, and attempt things that feel uncomfortable. In other words they are not afraid to be wrong. I think I’m still afraid to wrong in a public meeting.

CURIOSITY: It matters because curious people ask why, not just how. They don’t let it go and learn to challenge the reasons.

COMMUNITY: It matters because no one builds meaningful systems alone. Learning accelerates when it is shared. This is one I have added in because I see no future without community - but a stronger, more caring community than any that has come before.

CRITICAL THINKING: It matters because it probes, it tests, its reasons, it validates and verifies - helping you get to the truth.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution to the entire education system, but I’d like to see the above at least encouraged. That is what we try and do with our STEM Clubs. We don’t take the easy route and buy off the shelf robots (which in our opinion have some value…but not much) - the students get their hands dirty and solder up and assemble the whole project - engineering a housing/case for it as well.

Coding is still worth learning

Learning to code is still useful, but not because it guarantees a job.

It is useful because it teaches you how systems behave, how complexity emerges, and how small decisions propagate. It teaches patience, precision, and humility.

The amazing thing about AI is that it allows us to go deeper and learn more at a faster rate. Just using it to answer questions or solve your problem is kinda useless and will just serve to atrophy your brain. Use it as a partner to build something bigger and better - something you have always wanted to do. Seek to understand more.

If you understand what you are building and how to get the most out of AI, it makes you formidable. If you do not, it makes you dependent.

A Quieter Conclusion

This series is not a warning and it is not a rallying cry. It is an attempt to be honest.

We are living through a genuine transition. Some paths are closing. New ones are opening. Certainty is a thing that used to be….. so get used to it!!

One thing though - has remained true across every era of computing: people who enjoy learning, who stay curious, and who build real understanding always find a way forward.

I still believe in that.

Next time we will take a real look at vibe coding - the nonsense that has been put out there and what it looks like in reality.