--- title: "How do developers define their worth when code is written by AI?" url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-do-developers-define-their-worth-when-code-is-written-by-ai--iymk1sc7n source_url: https://christianheilmann.com/2026/04/21/how-do-developers-define-their-worth-when-code-is-written-by-ai/ type: article source: "Christian Heilmann" published: 2026-04-21T09:30:58.488Z updated: 2026-04-21T09:31:28.834Z tags: ["ai-assisted-development"] reading_time: 3 upvotes: 4 comments: 1 language: 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. # How do developers define their worth when code is written by AI? **[Christian Heilmann](https://daily.dev/sources/christianheilmann)** · 3 min read · 4 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary A reflection on what defines developers in an era where AI writes code. The core argument is that being a developer was never about writing code itself, but about solving problems. Code is just a tool, and developers who embrace change and love problem-solving will continue to thrive. AI can handle the typing and releasing, but developers retain the ability to understand, improve, and direct what machines produce. ## 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. **@confidentcoding** · 0 upvotes > Great post, man. > > I've always been on a quest to write less code physically while still being able to complete my work. Between libraries, frameworks, snippets, and autocomplete, I write less code today than I did 15 years ago, and that was even before LLMs came along. I have no pride in typing every character. On the contrary, nothing was more satisfying then creating a reusable dynamic snippet that would prevent me from writing huge swaths of redundant boilerplate! > > I also agree that the point wasn't the code necessarily, but the problem solving opportunities that writing and creating with... --- Tags: [#ai-assisted-development](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-assisted-development) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-do-developers-define-their-worth-when-code-is-written-by-ai--iymk1sc7n)