--- title: AI killed the joy of coding | daily.dev description: A veteran web developer with 13 years of experience shares his personal struggle with the loss of joy in coding since AI tools like Claude Code and Cursor... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/ai-killed-the-joy-of-coding-qlexfyapa twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: AI killed the joy of coding | daily.dev og:description: A veteran web developer with 13 years of experience shares his personal struggle with the loss of joy in coding since AI tools like Claude Code and Cursor... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/ai-killed-the-joy-of-coding-qlexfyapa og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/QLExFYApA.png og:image:alt: AI killed the joy of coding og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # AI killed the joy of coding **[Web Dev Cody](https://daily.dev/sources/webdevcody)** · 20 min read · 66 upvotes · 16 comments ## Summary A veteran web developer with 13 years of experience shares his personal struggle with the loss of joy in coding since AI tools like Claude Code and Cursor became dominant. He reflects on how agentic coding has replaced the satisfaction of hands-on problem solving, discusses the anxiety of managing multiple AI agents, and questions the future of his career and YouTube channel. He also touches on the difficult job market, the rise of vibe coding by non-developers, and where experienced developers might still have an edge — in deep technical knowledge or business/marketing skills. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@ezpie** · 12 upvotes > ok sick plan here, let's form a cult and burn down all data centers that exist, not the imaginary ones which are being built but the ones which exist? How does that sound? Problem solved! **@whlsk34** · 7 upvotes > People, you got into code to create things. You care about the writing and the reviews? I mean I get it, there is something about writing code which can be fun. But isn't the ideas the big thing, the creation, the helping other humans? Move the dopamine hit higher in the stack. If you aren't feeling empowered by making 5 different projects that would have taken you a year (if you're lucky) that could change the world, isn't THAT rewarding? It's really just the writing of code? That's it? You'd rather write code that makes an algorithm to serve BS to people in social media because you get... **@andradei** · 7 upvotes > The more vibe-coded apps and content we get, the less _in awe_ we will feel. AI is just a robot with a sharingan. A sophisticated copy-paster. **@evanc** · 5 upvotes > It's true. Doesn't seems the same anymore :\ **@erenyilmaz** · 4 upvotes > i understand people not liking AI due to the work it replaces (Not saying AI replaces Devs them selfs) but isn't it also a benefit? Personally i use AI to learn other languages and keep up with other programmers. could also be just me, i am still a junior. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [“I started to lose my ability to code”: developers grapple with the real cost of AI programming tools](https://daily.dev/posts/i-started-to-lose-my-ability-to-code-developers-grapple-with-the-real-cost-of-ai-programming-tool-2ysnnh7pi) · The New Stack · 2 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#career](https://daily.dev/tags/career), [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding), [#vibe-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/vibe-coding) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-killed-the-joy-of-coding-qlexfyapa) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"AI killed the joy of coding","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-killed-the-joy-of-coding-qlexfyapa","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-killed-the-joy-of-coding-qlexfyapa"},"datePublished":"2026-04-08T02:11:02.211Z","dateModified":"2026-04-08T02:11:23.169Z","description":"A veteran web developer with 13 years of experience shares his personal struggle with the loss of joy in coding since AI tools like Claude Code and Cursor...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MSeaxI7w9KM/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MSeaxI7w9KM/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Web Dev Cody","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Web Dev Cody","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--9ioIrvxf--/f_auto/v1723789220/logos/webdevcody","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/webdevcody"},"commentCount":16,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-killed-the-joy-of-coding-qlexfyapa","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":66},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":16}],"keywords":"career,ai-coding,vibe-coding","timeRequired":"PT20M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"AI killed the joy of coding","description":"A veteran web developer with 13 years of experience shares his personal struggle with the loss of joy in coding since AI tools like Claude Code and Cursor...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MSeaxI7w9KM/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-04-08T02:11:02.211Z","duration":"PT20M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/QLExFYApA","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/MSeaxI7w9KM"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Web Dev Cody","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/webdevcody"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"AI killed the joy of coding"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-killed-the-joy-of-coding-qlexfyapa","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"ok sick plan here, let’s form a cult and burn down all data centers that exist, not the imaginary ones which are being built but the ones which exist? How does that sound? Problem solved!","datePublished":"2026-04-09T10:54:45.642Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/QLExFYApA#c-1r9i9A8Tz","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Ezpie","url":"https://daily.dev/ezpie","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/104765117?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":12}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"People, you got into code to create things. You care about the writing and the reviews? I mean I get it, there is something about writing code which can be fun. But isn’t the ideas the big thing, the creation, the helping other humans? Move the dopamine hit higher in the stack. If you aren’t feeling empowered by making 5 different projects that would have taken you a year (if you’re lucky) that could change the world, isn’t THAT rewarding? It’s really just the writing of code? That’s it? You’d rather write code that makes an algorithm to serve BS to people in social media because you get to write over actually vibecoding something that change people’s lives? Am I the only one that would prefer to reading books rather than alphabetizing them?","datePublished":"2026-04-10T04:32:28.427Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/QLExFYApA#c-eZXWKA8hi","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"whlsk34","url":"https://daily.dev/whlsk34","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--O0TOmw4y--/f_auto/v1715772965/public/noProfile"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":7}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"The more vibe-coded apps and content we get, the less in awe we will feel. AI is just a robot with a sharingan. A sophisticated copy-paster.","datePublished":"2026-04-09T19:43:39.219Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/QLExFYApA#c-EeEisNCN9","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Isaac de Andrade","url":"https://daily.dev/andradei","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2653546?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":7}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"It’s true. Doesn’t seems the same anymore :\\","datePublished":"2026-04-09T16:08:39.328Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/QLExFYApA#c-ccpy0raz2","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Evan Chesterman","url":"https://daily.dev/evanc","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/AEdFTp6rhchvz44n9Jy2s2jg2pjIf1SJiUa3dMwi5_aBjfI=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":5}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"i understand people not liking AI due to the work it replaces (Not saying AI replaces Devs them selfs) but isn’t it also a benefit? Personally i use AI to learn other languages and keep up with other programmers. could also be just me, i am still a junior.","datePublished":"2026-04-09T20:46:24.393Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/QLExFYApA#c-7qYPU5Gda","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Eren Yilmaz","url":"https://daily.dev/erenyilmaz"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":4}}]} ```