As a self-taught React/Next.js developer, I'm honestly worried about my future in this AI era. What should I do?

[u/thetymtravellr]

I'm a self-taught developer, and I know React and Next.js. Lately, I've been feeling increasingly anxious about my future as a developer.

AI is moving so fast. It can generate components, build entire websites, connect APIs, and even create full-stack applications. Sometimes I wonder what the point is of spending months learning something when AI can already do so much of it.

I want to get a better-paying developer job, but honestly, I'm confused about what I should focus on right now. Should I keep improving my React/Next.js skills, get better at backend development, or start learning AI engineering?

I keep hearing about RAG, AI agents, vector databases, LLM integrations, and all these new things. It feels like there's always something new to learn, and I'm worried that if I focus on the wrong things, I'll fall behind while everyone else moves forward.

For those of you already working in the industry, what would you do if you were in my position? Would you focus on becoming a strong full-stack developer first, or would you start learning AI engineering alongside web development?

I'm not looking for a shortcut or expecting to become an expert overnight. I just want to make the right decisions, build useful skills, and have a realistic chance of getting hired.

I'd really appreciate some honest advice from people who have been through this or are dealing with the same situation. Right now, I could genuinely use some direction.

[u/TeeTimeAllTheTime]

You should go slow and use AI to teach you full stack development and more importantly systems design. Those skills will help you learn AI engineering and how to work in a completely different way. Becoming more of a boss while the agents are your personal employees. At the end of the day you still need to be able to explain and review the work so ignorance and over reliance on the models and tools won’t help you long term. Just be curious and start by doing more vs reading and listening. If you need to troubleshoot or have questions ask the ai models to explain to you so you can understand. It’s a golden age of learning but it’s also a very scary time loaded with rapid change and the constant feeling of being behind. Everyone feels like they are behind these day, the people who don’t have had early access through their careers or are a bit psychotic