Absolutely agree. That distinction between generating code and engineering software is exactly the point.
AI can make implementation faster, but it does not remove the need to understand failure modes, data behaviour, security boundaries, observability, and long-term maintainability.
I especially agree with your point that strong fundamentals make AI more valuable. The better we understand the system, the better we can question, validate, and improve what AI produces.
For me, that is where the real shift is happening. Developers are not just code writers anymore. We need to become better reviewers, decision-makers, and system thinkers.