I've mentored a couple developers who have made heavy use of ChatGPT or CoPilot in their work. I tell them the limits of it as well as the strengths. The upshot is that, if you use the code one of these tools produces without understanding what it does, you're going to be in deep trouble. As often as not, the code they produce is not well suited for the intended task, or is incomplete (commonly with security flaws) or is just broken.

To get the most out of AI, you have to be on the top of your game. You have to be able to phrase your needs extremely well and evaluate the output for possibly subtle problems.

As the tools get better, the need for deep understanding will increase.

Therefore, you should apply yourself to getting very good at using AI. That's where a lot of your career will be going forward. And if you're good, it will INCREASE your value to employers.

My message to you then is to take heart! You are well on your way to being one of the few who can do great things with these new capabilities. To be honest, your career may go through some ups and downs as the world learns to adapt to AI. But if you stick with it, you'll always be on the cutting edge!