I'm not opposed to using AI as a coding assistant—in fact, I've used AI-based tools for years to work more efficiently. What bothers me is the current culture of promoting nearly identical websites built in a matter of minutes, while investors and companies increasingly seem focused on speed above all else.
I don't believe a genuinely good product, even something as simple as a to-do list app, can always be built well in 30 minutes. Constant exposure to that kind of hype has left me feeling empty and unmotivated. I find it harder to focus on a specific idea and turn it into something meaningful.
For other developers experiencing similar job fatigue or discouragement, what helped you regain your motivation and perspective?
3 Answers
I got past the hype by focusing on what I could actually build and judge for myself. I started making a few personal extensions and projects, then used the quality of those as my own standard. After a while, I had a much clearer sense of what could realistically be done quickly and what required careful design, testing, and maintenance.
That perspective also makes exaggerated claims easier to ignore. Software engineering may be less tedious in some places because of AI, but it is still full of edge cases, tradeoffs, and long-term maintenance. Build things that interest you, set your own quality bar, and let your imagination—not advertisements—drive the work.
If this feeling is persistent or affecting your life broadly, it may be worth treating it as burnout rather than just a productivity problem. But in practical terms, stepping away from programming influencers and muting the constant stream of hype can help. A lot of those claims exist to attract attention, not to describe normal software development.
I try to set my own goals and treat programming as mental exercise. AI can write a complicated query for me, but sometimes I write it myself because working through the problem keeps my skills sharp. When every difficult task is handed off immediately, it can become harder to summon the energy to think deeply. Use AI where it genuinely helps, but keep some challenging work for yourself instead of optimizing every minute.
That makes sense. I was thinking of it more as job fatigue and hoped other developers had found ways to deal with that specifically, but separating myself from the hype probably needs to be part of it.