Craftsmanship and Passion

Lately I have been considering my role as a software developer, with the recent focus on AI powered development. With AI capable of so much now, what is the need for humans in the loop?

As a developer I have worked across the stack for almost 10 years, but I have always enjoyed front end development most. As I think about getting back into the field after a long sabbatical, I wonder what to study to secure a position. More and more I'm beginning to think that a better idea would be to home in on what I'm passionate about. It's a good idea to have a broad understanding across the stack, but maybe instead of focusing on filling in weak points, I can take some time to focus on what I enjoy most - the front end.

I'll be thinking about what defines craftsmanship in web development. It includes the polish and refinement that may not be most evident - where one things of edge cases, failure states, observation to find those things, clean code, optimization, and more. It also includes thinking of the users, in my humble opinion. My certificate in UX design exposed me to a lot of practices for studying the user and their needs and wants, and these are important considerations that cannot be understood in depth by AI. Maybe I should refresh on the nuances of advanced CSS and TypeScript and refining the edges of web applications. It's easy to get overwhelmed by how much there is to learn these days, but maybe my passion can guide me again.