Am I too dependent on AI?
Shell Theory proposes that AI creates two zones for every developer: a shell zone, where AI rescues your output to a fixed floor and your skills may quietly erode, and an amplification zone, where AI exponentially compounds your agency and experience into something greater than you could achieve alone. The difference between the two is not how smart AI gets—it’s how much you bring to the collaboration.
This 6-question self-test measures your agency (curiosity, discipline, cognitive engagement) and experience within a specific domain, then plots where you land on the Shell Theory model.
Your domain
The model evaluates your agency and experience within a specific domain.
Agency
Agency is defined as the combination of curiosity (the drive to question), discipline (the persistence to follow through), and cognitive engagement (the capacity for reasoning and imagination).
Curiosity: the drive to question
When AI generates a working solution in , what do you do next?
Discipline: the persistence to follow through
When AI output in contains a pattern or concept you don't fully understand, what is your pattern?
Cognitive engagement: the capacity for reasoning and imagination
Before you engage AI on a complex problem, what does your process look like?
Experience
Experience is your level from junior through principal. Unlike agency, experience is earned through time. Living through production incidents, watching systems evolve, and feeling the consequences of decisions.
Domain depth: knowledge
How would you describe your working knowledge of ?
Production battle scars: lived experience
What does your production experience in look like?
Design authority: scope of responsibility
When a technical decision needs to be made in , what role do you play?