Tell HN: AI tools are making me lose interest in CS fundamentals

A Hacker News discussion highlights a growing sentiment among developers: AI coding assistants are diminishing the perceived importance of computer science fundamentals. The original poster expressed that tools like GitHub Copilot and Cursor can generate solutions quickly, making the effort to deeply learn topics like distributed systems and algorithms feel less urgent. In the comments (91 responses), experienced developers countered that fundamentals remain crucial for debugging, optimizing, and understanding AI-generated code, especially when tools produce incorrect or inefficient solutions. The practical takeaway for AI workflow builders is that while AI accelerates development, a solid grasp of CS principles is still necessary to evaluate and refine outputs. Relying solely on AI risks creating fragile systems that cannot be maintained or improved without deep understanding. This tension between productivity gains and knowledge erosion is a recurring theme in discussions about AI in software engineering.