Not too long ago, I identified as an ex-web developer. Having plunged deep into the intricate world of coding for years, I eventually hit a wall of monotony and began to drift away from the very industry I once adored. Web technologies, while continuously evolving, seemed to offer a somewhat predictable trajectory. But in this predictability, I lost the spark that initially drew me to web development.

Then, something remarkable happened: AI arrived front and centre.

For years, AI has been making strides in various sectors: from healthcare and finance to gaming and entertainment. It was, however, the arrival of AI in the shape of Bard, Bing & chatGPT that has been the game changer. These are just the first steps in the next evolution of the internet, and what an evolution it is going to be. The caterpillar is going full butterfly and what a butterfly it promises to be.

As I dive back into web development, equipped with these AI-powered tools, the experience is akin to a seasoned painter discovering an entirely new palette of colors. The possibilities seemed endless, and the barriers of the past were quickly dissolving.

There are so many obvious quick wins to be had in every office of every business right now, today. Internal usages such as help with email drafting, presentation assistance, documentation creation and automation, content curation, customer support, personalized marketing, enhanced search and document retrieval, meeting summaries, language translation for multinationals, document summarisation, creating training material, the list just goes on and on.

I look back over the many jobs I have done over the last 25 years and all of them could have been improved with the use of AI, every single one of them! The functionality and levels of productivity that we dreamed of are now available at the drop of a hat.

Even in a world that's moving at breakneck speed, it's easy to become jaded or feel bored. But technology has a way of looping back, of making the old new again. For me, AI was the missing piece, reigniting my joy in web development. Today, I am not just a web developer; I am a web developer in an AI-driven world, continuously awed and inspired by the boundless opportunities it presents.

Time to put the headphones back on, I can hear it now... welcome my son, welcome to the machine.

Happy days.