The AI Paradox: Superpower for Pilots, Autopilot for Novices

AI adoption is exposing an uncomfortable truth: it amplifies existing expertise rather than democratizing it. Senior engineers use AI 4-5x more than juniors because they can evaluate outputs instantly, while juniors without fundamentals ship code they can't explain—a dangerous form of 'vibe coding' disguised as modern development. Teams need to pair AI tools with rigorous learning of fundamentals, or risk graduating engineers who can generate code but can't reason about it.