AI coding assistants: are they making us lazy or just faster? Had a moment last week on a job

I was working on a Python script for a client's website over in Portland, and an AI tool auto-suggested a fix for a bug I'd been staring at for 45 minutes. It saved me the headache, but now I'm wondering if I'm losing the ability to debug stuff on my own. Have you guys noticed your problem-solving skills slipping since you started leaning on these tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

laura_white9923d ago

Oh my GOD this hits so close to home for me! I had the EXACT same worry when I started using GitHub Copilot for my freelance work last year. It's like the tool is doing the heavy lifting and my brain is just sitting back and watching. But honestly, I think it's a TRADE OFF - yeah, I might not be as quick at manually debugging from scratch, but I'm solving way more problems in less time overall. The key for me has been making sure I still read through the AI's suggestions and UNDERSTAND why they work, instead of just blindly accepting them. If you're not questioning the AI's logic sometimes, THAT'S when you start losing your skills for real.

spencer_thomas423d agoProlific Poster

How do you actually test if you're still learning versus just getting better at accepting suggestions? I catch myself nodding along to Copilot's code sometimes without fully tracking the logic. Do you have a specific way you force yourself to stop and question what it spits out?