A useful distinction
LLMs can make it easy to obtain code before a learner has formed a model of the program. That does not make programming education obsolete; it makes visible proof of understanding more important. The interview question is increasingly: can you trace the behavior, state the assumptions, and repair the failure?
A portfolio exercise that resists shortcutting
Take a small application and record three artifacts: a diagram of the data flow, a test that catches a deliberate regression, and a short note explaining one rejected solution. An assistant may help create each artifact, but the learner must defend the choices and reproduce the reasoning after the prompt history is gone.
Why employers should care
Teams hire people to work with changing code, partial requirements, and real constraints. A polished demo without test coverage or an explanation of trade-offs says far less than a modest project with a clear debugging trail.