🤖 Is over-reliance on AI coding agents quietly killing our fundamental engineering skills?

While working on developing new tools recently, I've noticed a massive shift in how I write code and make technical decisions.

Back in the day, fixing a stubborn bug or architecting a project took hours of deep research and raw engineering thought, which forced me to truly understand every line of code I wrote. But nowadays, thanks to AI coding agents and instant assistants, I can generate hundreds of lines of code in mere seconds.

However, I've started noticing the dark side of this convenience: when a complex edge-case bug pops up that requires a deep architectural fix, I sometimes find myself struggling because I've grown accustomed to letting the AI think for me. It feels like my critical thinking muscles are slowly atrophying.

So, I'm genuinely curious to hear your experiences as fellow indie makers and developers:

• Do you feel like AI makes you a weaker programmer at the core in exchange for delivery speed?

• How do you personally balance leveraging AI velocity with keeping your fundamental mental and coding skills sharp?

Would love to hear your thoughts and real-world experiences!