Eda Eren

Recent neuroscience research into the impact of AI tools on learning has shown that while they can be helpful in cognitive offloading, relying on these tools interrupts several other processes necessary for learning. Many of us don't have a say in using these tools in professional work, so we'll look at what we can do as individuals for our skill growth. We'll also briefly touch on what seniors and managers can do to prevent skills rot in their team and why we even need human skills. This is not an AI hype or an anti-AI talk, but a practical (and hopeful!) look at how we can care for our skills in an era where AI feels inescapable.

AI code tooling hype is everywhere right now, making some big claims: they'll make you a faster programmer, they'll write your code for you, they'll…replace you?! While the efficacy of these tools may be hotly debated, research is piling up documenting their impact on our learning and skills development. Explore an overview of how these tools work alongside an introduction to the neuroscience behind how and when we learn. By abstracting away programming processes, AI coding tools remove the friction needed to build foundational understanding that develops into expertise. We'll also deep dive into the practical strategies and mitigations you can put in place to keep learning in the age of AI. As AI coding tools impact our individual skills over time, the pool of skills available to our projects, teams, and the tech industry itself will change. By recognizing the potential and pitfalls of these tools, we can plan our own paths in a way that's informed by AI, not led by it.