Web Dev vs. AI/ML for High Schoolers: Which to Learn?

8/12/2025

It feels like every other day there's a new "must-learn" skill for anyone interested in tech. Especially if you're in high school right now, the pressure is REAL. You've probably got people telling you to jump on the AI bandwagon, while others are saying a solid foundation in web development is the way to go. So, what's the deal? Should you be diving into the world of Large Language Models (LLMs) & Machine Learning (ML), or is mastering web development the smarter move?

Honestly, there’s no single right answer, but I can break down the pros & cons of each to help you figure out what's best for YOU. I've spent a lot of time in both worlds, & I've seen kids with a passion for either one do some pretty amazing things.

Let's get into it.

The Case for Web Development: Your Foundation for Everything

Think of web development as learning the fundamental grammar of the internet. It's the bedrock of so much of what we do online. It's about building the websites & applications that people interact with every single day.

The Good Stuff: Why Web Dev is a Great Place to Start

Lower Barrier to Entry: Here's the thing, you can start learning web development right now with just a computer & an internet connection. The basic building blocks – HTML, CSS, & JavaScript – are relatively easy to pick up, & there are a TON of free resources online to get you started. You can go from zero to a functional (if simple) website pretty quickly, which is a huge confidence booster.
Tangible Results, Fast: One of the most satisfying things about web development is seeing your code come to life almost instantly. You write a line of code, refresh your browser, & boom, something changes. This immediate feedback loop is incredibly motivating & helps you learn by doing. You can build a personal portfolio, a blog, or even a simple game within a few weeks of starting.
A MASSIVE Job Market: Every business, from the corner bakery to a Fortune 500 company, needs a web presence. This means the demand for web developers is consistently high. It’s a field with a huge number of entry-level opportunities, which can be a great way to get your foot in the door of the tech industry. You can even start freelancing in high school, building websites for local businesses & earning some cash.
Develops Core Skills: Learning web development isn't just about memorizing code. It teaches you problem-solving, logical thinking, & creativity. You learn how to break down a big project into smaller, manageable tasks, how to debug your code when things go wrong, & how to think about the user experience. These are skills that are valuable in ANY career, not just tech.

The Not-So-Good Stuff: Challenges in Web Development

It's a Crowded Field: Because the barrier to entry is lower, there's a lot of competition, especially for those entry-level jobs. To stand out, you'll need to build a strong portfolio of projects & continuously learn new technologies.
The Learning Never Stops: The world of web development is constantly evolving. New frameworks, libraries, & best practices pop up all the time. What's cutting-edge today might be outdated in a few years. You have to be committed to lifelong learning to stay relevant.
It Can Feel Repetitive: While there's a lot of creativity in web development, some of the day-to-day tasks, especially in a corporate setting, can be a bit repetitive. You might find yourself building similar types of websites or features over & over again.

Fun Web Dev Projects for High Schoolers

A Personal Portfolio Website: This is a classic for a reason. It's a great way to showcase your skills, your projects, & a little bit about yourself.
A Fan Site for Your Favorite Band or Movie: Pick something you're passionate about & build a website for it. You'll be more motivated to make it look great & add cool features.
A Simple To-Do List App: This is a great project for learning the fundamentals of JavaScript & how to manipulate things on a webpage.
A "Two Truths & a Lie" Game: You can build this with just HTML, CSS, & JavaScript, & it's a fun way to practice your logic & coding skills.

The Case for LLM & ML: Riding the Wave of the Future

Now, let's talk about the new kid on the block that's getting all the attention: LLMs & Machine Learning. This is the stuff that powers things like ChatGPT, self-driving cars, & Netflix's recommendation engine. It's all about teaching computers to learn from data & make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed.

The Good Stuff: Why LLM & ML are So Exciting

You're at the Forefront of Innovation: This is without a doubt one of the most exciting & rapidly advancing fields in technology. By learning LLM & ML, you're positioning yourself to work on some of the most cutting-edge problems of our time.
HUGE Earning Potential: Let's be real, the salaries for AI & ML engineers are pretty insane. Companies are willing to pay a premium for people with these skills because they're in such high demand & can create so much value.
Develops Advanced Problem-Solving Skills: ML is all about data, algorithms, & experimentation. It forces you to think critically, analyze complex datasets, & be creative in your approach to problem-solving. It's a field that's deeply intertwined with math & statistics, so if you enjoy those subjects, you'll likely find ML fascinating.
The "Wow" Factor: Building something with AI can be incredibly impressive. Imagine creating a program that can generate poetry, an app that can identify different types of plants from a photo, or a chatbot that can answer questions about a specific topic. These are the kinds of projects that will make your college applications & resume stand out.

The Not-So-Good Stuff: The Challenges of Learning LLM & ML

A Steep Learning Curve: There's no sugarcoating it, LLM & ML are a LOT harder to get into than web development. You'll need a solid understanding of programming (Python is the go-to language), as well as concepts from calculus, linear algebra, & probability.
It Can Be Abstract: Unlike web development where you can see the results of your code immediately, ML can be more abstract. You'll spend a lot of time cleaning data, training models, & tweaking parameters, & it might not be immediately obvious why something is or isn't working.
The "Black Box" Problem: Some of the most powerful ML models, like deep neural networks, can be like "black boxes." We know they work, but it can be hard to understand exactly how they're making their decisions. This raises all sorts of ethical questions about bias in AI, which is a whole other can of worms.
Fewer Entry-Level Opportunities: While the demand for ML engineers is high, a lot of the jobs require advanced degrees (like a Master's or PhD) or several years of experience. It can be tougher to find an entry-level role straight out of high school or even with just a bachelor's degree.

Fun LLM & ML Projects for High Schoolers

A Sentiment Analyzer for Social Media: Train a model to analyze tweets or Reddit comments about a certain topic & determine if the sentiment is positive, negative, or neutral.
A Movie Recommendation System: Build a simple recommendation engine that suggests movies based on a user's ratings of other movies.
An Image Classifier: Create a program that can distinguish between different types of objects, like cats & dogs, or different types of flowers.
A Basic Chatbot: This is a fantastic way to dip your toes into the world of conversational AI. You can train a chatbot on a specific dataset, like the text of your favorite book or the FAQ page of a website, to answer questions on that topic.

Speaking of chatbots, this is where the two fields can really start to overlap in cool ways. Imagine you've built a website for a small business. That's a great web development project. But what if you could add a chatbot to that website that could answer customer questions 24/7? That's where a tool like Arsturn comes in. Arsturn is a no-code platform that lets businesses create custom AI chatbots trained on their own data. So, you could build a website for a local restaurant, & then use Arsturn to create a chatbot that can answer questions about their menu, hours, & reservations. Pretty cool, right? It's a perfect example of how web development & AI can work together to create something really valuable.

So, Which One Should You Choose?

Here's the million-dollar question. And the answer is... it depends.

Choose Web Development if:

You're new to coding & want to build a solid foundation.
You're a visual learner who likes to see the results of your work quickly.
You want to build practical projects that you can use & share right away.
You're interested in freelancing or getting a job in tech relatively quickly.

Choose LLM & ML if:

You're already comfortable with programming & have a strong interest in math & stats.
You're fascinated by AI & want to work on cutting-edge technology.
You're up for a challenge & are willing to put in the time to learn complex concepts.
You're thinking about pursuing an advanced degree in computer science.

The Best of Both Worlds: Why You Don't Have to Choose

Here's a little secret: you don't actually have to pick one & stick with it forever. In fact, the most successful people in tech often have skills in multiple areas.

A great approach is to start with web development. Learn the basics of HTML, CSS, & JavaScript. Build a few projects to get comfortable with the fundamentals. Once you have a solid foundation, you can start to explore the world of AI & ML.

And this is where things get REALLY interesting. Because the future isn't just about web development or AI in isolation; it's about how they're integrated. Think about all the ways AI is being used to enhance websites & applications:

Personalized experiences: E-commerce sites that recommend products you might like.
Smarter search: Search engines that understand the intent behind your query, not just the keywords.
Better customer service: Chatbots that can answer your questions instantly, anytime.

This is where a platform like Arsturn can be a game-changer for businesses. Arsturn helps businesses build no-code AI chatbots trained on their own data to boost conversions & provide personalized customer experiences. It’s a perfect example of how conversational AI can be used to build meaningful connections with an audience through a website. For a high school student learning both web development & AI, understanding how to use a tool like Arsturn is a HUGE advantage. It shows you're not just learning the theory; you're thinking about how these technologies can be applied in the real world to solve business problems.

My Advice to You

If I had to give you one piece of advice, it would be this: follow your curiosity.

Don't choose a path just because you think it will lead to a higher salary or because it's what everyone else is talking about. Choose the one that genuinely excites you. The one that makes you want to stay up late at night tinkering with a project.

If you're excited about building beautiful, interactive websites that people will use & love, then dive headfirst into web development.

If you're fascinated by the idea of creating intelligent systems that can learn & reason like humans, then embrace the challenge of LLM & ML.

And if you're excited about BOTH, then even better! Start with web development, build a strong foundation, & then start to incorporate AI into your projects. The combination of those two skill sets will make you an absolute powerhouse in the tech world.

Hope this was helpful! Let me know what you think.