From my point of view, AI coding agents are really powerful, but they’re not error-proof. As a junior developer, I’ve already noticed several situations where AI coding agents make mistakes or produce solutions that look correct at first but have underlying issues.
That said, I believe AI agents will eventually reach a stage where their error rate becomes extremely low, perhaps close to zero. However, I imagine the cost of using such highly capable agents will also be very high.
Even if companies are willing to pay that price, I don’t think AI agents will completely replace developers. They would still need a few experienced senior engineers on each team to review critical decisions, handle complex problems, and act as the last line of defence when things go wrong.
Which brings me to your important question:
Will junior developers still get enough hands-on experience to become strong engineers?
Honestly, I have the same question.
I feel this could be particularly challenging for the upcoming generation of junior developers. For many people, internships provide only limited real-world experience. The first few years of their careers are usually where they gain the most practical knowledge by writing code, debugging issues, making mistakes, and learning from experienced engineers.
But if AI continues to take over many of the tasks traditionally given to junior developers, how will they get those opportunities to learn?
As someone who is also early in my career, this genuinely worries me. At the same time, I’m open to hearing different perspectives and would be happy to be proven wrong.
I’d love to hear what others think about this.