I was in OpenAI’s first intern cohort. Here’s what it taught me about becoming an AI-native engineer

TL;DR: AI is making it easier than ever to build software that looks impressive in a demo. But after working in OpenAI’s first intern cohort, I learned that the real challenge is not just speed. It is judgment: knowing what to trust, what to test, and when a human still needs to stay in the loop.

AI has made it easier than ever to create software that looks impressive.

A prototype can be built faster. A codebase can be explored faster. A test can be generated faster. A confusing document can be summarized faster. For engineers, this is an enormous shift.

But speed is not the same thing as judgment.

That was one of the biggest lessons I took from my time at OpenAI. I was part of the company’s first intern cohort, and the experience changed the way I think about software engineering in the AI era.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!