If you want to become an independent developer, you can just do it! Find a problem (ideally one a lot of people have), come up with a solution, code it, and ap

If you want to become an independent developer, you can just do it! Find a problem (ideally one a lot of people have), come up with a solution, code it, and apply your SEO skills to begin recruiting users. As a general rule, a web-based solution is easier to develop, deploy, manage, and maintain than mobile/desktop/server apps, so maybe start there? Programmers have used tools since day 1: "AI" is just another tool. Just as an optimizing compiler can be magical to an assembly language programmer, so is an LLM to you. Programming will evolve, but the fundamental skills of analysis, breaking down the problem, and making the machine do the steps will remain. Focus your self-education not on programming languages, tooling, or operating systems, but on system design and problem analysis and communicating with stakeholders. They're the things that are really valuable: the technology comes and goes.