AI Is Writing PHP: What Does That Mean for Developers?

Arthur C. Clarke wrote that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Today's AI coding assistants feel precisely like that—magic. But behind the illusion lies a fundamental shift in how we build software. This article examines how tools like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and emerging agentic frameworks are reshaping PHP development, from backend automation to the thorny questions of code ownership, comprehension, and what it means to be a developer when machines write code alongside us.