There’s a question I get asked more and more as AI tools become mainstream: “If AI can write code, why do we still need to teach kids how to code?” It’s a fair question, and it reminds me of another question that would have seemed equally reasonable in the early days of the calculator: “If machines can do the math, why teach arithmetic?”
We know how that turned out. We still teach math. We still teach writing, even though spell-check exists and ChatGPT can draft a better cover letter than most adults. The tools changed, but the need for foundational understanding did not. If anything, the proliferation of powerful tools made that foundational understanding more important because people need to know enough to direct the tool, evaluate its output, and, importantly, recognize when it’s wrong.
The same logic applies to computer science, and the rise of vibe coding platforms actually makes this point more urgent, not less.
The “Just Use ChatGPT” Fallacy
Here’s the comparison worth making: asking whether we should still teach coding because AI can do it is the same as asking whether we should teach kids to write because ChatGPT exists. The answer is obviously, emphatically yes. What changes is how we teach it, and who gets access to learn.
For too long, computer science education has been a privilege of geography and circumstance – kids in well-funded districts, near tech hubs, with parents who happen to work in the industry. The curriculum has also been, frankly, repetitive. Syntax drills. Abstract exercises. Concepts disconnected from anything a teenager would actually want to build. We taught coding as a trade skill and then wondered why most students tuned out.
AI and no-code tools break that model open. They lower the floor without lowering the ceiling. They give students something traditional CS curricula rarely offered: the immediate satisfaction of building something real.
Creating Creators, Not Just Consumers
The most important shift happening right now is broadening who gets to participate in creating technology. We are moving from a world where most people simply consumed technology to one where anyone with a device and an idea can become a creator. That transition doesn’t happen automatically. It requires education, tools, and a culture that actively creates opportunities for more people.
AI and no-code development doesn’t remove the need to learn, it changes how people learn. It makes learning visible. When a student can describe an app idea in plain language–see it come to life on screen, and dig into how the logic works–computer science becomes tangible. It connects abstract concepts to real output. It puts the “why” back in the curriculum. Students stop asking “when will I ever use this?” because they’re already using it.
We don’t need every student to know every line of code running under the hood. What we do need them to understand is how this stuff works: how data flows, what an algorithm actually does, why privacy matters, how digital systems shape the world they’re inheriting. That knowledge is civic literacy now, not just career prep.
AI for All, Not Just Silicon Valley
The technology industry has a habit of building powerful tools and then gatekeeping them through cost and complexity. It’s my mission to help change that.
The most exciting thing about this moment is how quickly the barriers to creation are collapsing for everyone: the teenager in a rural school district, the small business owner who can’t afford a developer, the retiree who’s creating a side hustle, the first-generation college student who never thought of themselves as a “tech person.” These are the builders who will define the next era of the digital economy, if we give them the invitation and the foundation to show up.
Vibe coding tools and AI assistants are a key part of that invitation. Genuine CS education–reimagined, democratized, and tied to real creative output–is the foundation. We need both. The goal was never to produce a generation of syntax memorizers. It was always to produce a generation of problem-solvers who understand the most powerful tools of their time.
We’re finally in a position to deliver on the promise to open up the digital economy to builders from every background, every zip code, and every skill level. Let’s not waste this opportunity by asking whether education still matters.
