Comment by PaulShin

A fascinating question. As a founder building AI collaboration tools, this is a topic we obsess over daily.

You're wondering whether to focus on CS fundamentals or the skill of collaborating with an AI. My take is that this is a false dichotomy.

From my experience building an AI "teammate" that's integrated into our team's daily workflow, the most crucial skill of the next decade won't be one or the other. It will be using the fundamentals to ask the AI better questions.

The biggest challenge we see isn't the AI's ability to execute a task; it's our team's ability to frame a problem clearly and break it down into logical steps that the AI can understand. The best results don't come from our best pure coders, but from those who can translate a vague goal (like "make this design better") into a series of fundamental, actionable instructions.

So, I believe the original poster is on the perfect track. Teaching his son how to "break problems down" – how to create arrows, move them, and know when they hit – is the foundational skill for collaborating with any intelligence, human or artificial. He is not just teaching him how to code; he is teaching him how to think.

And that's the one skill that will never be outsourced or automated. Best of luck to the OP on his wonderful journey.