Serious

I am going to be upfront with all of you, I don't use AI extensively like how some users on Reddit say they do. I see A TON of Redditors who say, "Oh I don't write code anymore, AI writes like all my code DUDE!" which I don't believe is true unless I am blind ASF. I mainly use AI for simple questions here and there and also for new idea/concepts I am learning about. It helps a ton with researching things I want to end up using in my projects, etc. I do also use AI if I get stuck debugging as I found AI is very good at debugging pieces of code pretty well. Now I don't know if this is putting me at a MAJOR disadvantage compared to other developers or not. If I did decide to "vibe code" my contributions at work, my manager would be pretty PISSED. He advocates knowing what the LLM is producing in terms of code, how it works, and why that solution is good. I am also a fairly new developer with around 2 years of experience so learning new concepts and ideas during this time period is essential for me to level up as a developer. This is what my manager wants from me, to learn the ideas, use the them, and progress as a developer. He believes AI does hinder this which I do agree with. Like I said, I don't know if not using AI extensively will put me at a major disadvantage when I do look for that next position. I do plan on looking for a new position in the summer given I haven't had a raise in a year and make complete shit compared to others with similar YOE and similar COL ($57,000 with 2 YOE). I guess I just don't know if being at my current job is actually hurting my progression as a developer since we do not use AI as extensively as other companies. I am learning a shit ton of new concepts and ideas though which I feel is a major plus sign that my progression as a developer is improving. My other coworkers have also noted that my skills as a developer have improved dramatically over the past two years while working with them.