Aussie Oved So two weeks ago I’m sitting here having coffee at 11 PM, trying to figure out why a WooCommerce query is eating 8 seconds on a category page. Client’s call every day. “The site’s slow. Fix it.”
Used to be, I’d waste two hours debugging, checking all the plugins, running Query Monitor, getting frustrated. This time I opened ChatGPT, copied the query, and asked “what’s wrong here?”
Three minutes later I had a clear explanation of the problem (unnecessary subquery pulling thousands of products) and a working solution.
That’s when it hit me – AI isn’t another annoying trend. It’s something that actually changes how I work.
Let’s talk about what’s really happening
I’ve been building WordPress sites for years. Saw jQuery come in, watched Gutenberg blow up everyone’s ACF setups, sat through a million “revolutions” that came and went.
But AI? This is different.
Not because it’s “revolutionary” or “game-changing” or whatever marketing crap people say. It’s different because it just works. Every day. On real tasks.
The stuff that actually saves me time
Writing repetitive code
You know how many times I’ve written a custom post type? Hundreds? Thousands? I don’t even remember the syntax by heart anymore because it’s boring as hell.
Now I type in Copilot:
“`
// Custom post type for team members with ACF fields
“`
And it writes the whole thing. Not always perfect – sometimes needs tweaking. But it saves me 10 minutes each time. Sounds small? Think about how many times a day you write repetitive code.
Debugging without losing my mind
I’ve got a client with an old site. WordPress 5.8, code from 2019, dozens of plugins where half are deprecated. Every update’s a gamble.
Last week I got stuck on a weird PHP error that only showed up in production. Error log gave me something completely unclear. Copied the error to ChatGPT with context, and it explained what was happening and where to look.
It didn’t solve everything automatically. But it gave me direction. And that’s what matters – not wasting two hours guessing.
Writing documentation without it killing me
I hate writing docs. I really hate it. But I know it matters, especially when there’s a team or when clients want to understand what we built. Claude helps me take messy code and turn it into organized documentation. I give it a function, it explains what it does in human language. This is something I used to postpone forever. Now it takes 5 minutes.
What actually changed
Clients expect more now. “WordPress site with a blog” isn’t enough anymore. Everyone wants:
- Fast user experience
- Strong security
- Advanced features that used to be only for huge companies
And you, as a developer, still have the same number of hours in a day. So you gotta choose: either you skip some features, or you work 14-hour days, or you start using tools that help you do more.
The thing that surprised me most
I started building stuff I just didn’t do before.
I have a client running a content site with thousands of articles. He wanted smart search – something that understands intent, not just strings. In the past I would’ve told him “that requires expensive custom development, maybe look at Algolia?”
A month ago I started playing with Sticklight. It’s a platform for building AI apps without needing all the messy infrastructure. Within two days I built the client a search system that understands natural language questions and returns relevant results.
He paid happily. I earned more. And it works better than I expected.
This opened my eyes – there’s a whole market of services that weren’t available to regular WordPress developers. Now they are.
Other examples I’ve seen work:
- Support chatbot connected to the client’s ticket system
- Personalized content recommendation engine
- Automatic summaries of long content (perfect for blogs)
- User behavior analysis with automated reports
Not every client needs this. But when you have one who does – you can say “yes, I can build that” instead of “find someone else.”
Let’s be honest – it’s not perfect
AI writes bugs. Lots of bugs.
AI doesn’t know what your client actually wants.
AI doesn’t understand your project’s history.
You’re still the brain. AI is just a tool. Good tool, but a tool.
If you don’t know PHP – AI won’t turn you into a developer. If you don’t understand architecture – AI won’t design your site. But if you do know what you’re doing? AI can help you do it faster, cleaner, and with higher quality.
Where to start (without going crazy)
Don’t try learning 15 tools at once. Don’t freak out about “will AI replace me.” Don’t buy 10 different subscriptions.
Do something simple:
Pick one task that annoys you.
Debugging? Writing repetitive code? Documentation? Security checks?
Grab one tool and test it.
Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Windsurf – they all work. Pick one and start.
Try it on a real project.
Not an exercise. Something for a client. That’s how you see if it actually helps.
And after it works – move to the next thing.
Maybe add automated code scanning. Maybe try building a small AI feature for a client. Maybe improve your processes.
But slowly. One step at a time.
What I actually think
I don’t think AI is “the future” or “revolutionary.” I think it’s a tool that’s already here, already working, and people who start using it now will just be more efficient. Doesn’t mean you have to. You can build excellent WordPress sites without AI. I know plenty of developers doing exactly that.
But if you want to stay competitive, offer new services, and not work 80 hours a week – you should start experimenting. Not because it’s trendy. Because it works.
If you want to check out how to build AI apps without getting into the whole servers, APIs, and complicated tech thing – look at Sticklight AI-Powered App Builder or Lovable. It’s not the only place, but it’s a good place to start. And if it doesn’t fit – there are other options. The main thing is you start somewhere.