Why I Switched

From Programmer to Security Enthusiast

As a hobbyist programmer and Computer Science major I really enjoy programming and learning how computers work at a fundamental level. While I've never had any professional experience, I see myself programming for the rest of my life.

In recent years, the storm of ChatGPT and Large Language Models (LLMs) has greatly impacted the software development community. These technologies allow many people to start making their own programs with the help of an AI assistant, and companies are expecting developers to do the same if they are going to keep their high salaries.

I have nothing against using LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, but my issue is that it takes away from the fun of development that inspired me to peruse this career in the first place. The ability to solve algorithms has been a uniquely human experience for the past half century. Now we are getting these new tools and off loading that problem solving requirement to Artificial intelligence.

Overall, all this is to say every time I heavily rely on LLMs to generate code for my projects, I feel as though I'm cheating myself or going against my values, and I don't see myself spending my life going against my values!

This is exactly why Cybersecurity seemed like an alternative to the software engineering route. To me it at first seemed like a step backward. I didn't want to spend my time working on stuff wasn't highly mathematical or technical. However, I've realized that part of growing up is making trade-offs. As I've started to learn more and more about Cybersecurity, I've realized how much I can actually learn about computers from this field. I've always enjoyed listening to the Darknet Daries podcast and now I get to see exactly what all the fuss is about.

While I've only just begun down this path, I don't see myself turning back. AI has taken over most of software development and the market has only gotten worse for entry level jobs as well; however, this isn't the main reason why I've switched as I discussed earlier. I really don't like playing catch-up and that's why I started learning how to code at 17, still in high school. However, I think my programming background will really help me shine through as long as I work hard.