AI is making me dumb
AI coding assistants and chatbots are reshaping how developers work, raising fears that offloading too much thinking to machines is eroding skills, confidence, and deep understanding. Commenters describe a spectrum of experiences: some feel AI accelerates learning, removes drudgery, and lets them tackle harder problems, while others report “vibe-coded” spaghetti, weaker onboarding for juniors, and a shift from building systems to babysitting agents. Many argue the key is how the tools are used — keeping humans in control of design and verification, using AI for explanation and refactoring rather than end‑to‑end implementation, and deliberately practicing “manual” coding and writing to prevent atrophy.
Skill atrophy & dependence
- Many feel core skills (coding, writing, navigation in a codebase) are visibly atrophying when AI handles end‑to‑end tasks (“vibe coding”).
- Some report forgetting syntax or even feeling unable to code without AI, especially after long periods of delegating everything.
- Others argue this is just normal “rust” from not practicing, not literal loss of intelligence.
Productivity vs code quality / technical debt
- AI dramatically increases throughput, but often by generating verbose, over‑engineered, or spaghetti code.
- Several describe spending more time refactoring and deleting AI code than they would have spent writing a lean solution.
- Debate exists on whether accidental complexity is now “cheaper” because AI can help maintain it; others warn it will hurt both humans and agents (context limits, debugging complexity).
Impact on learning, juniors & apprenticeship
- Strong concern that juniors using AI from day one won’t build deep mental models, pattern recognition, or “edge‑case creativity.”
- AI accelerates “reading”/theory but can displace the “doing” that builds real skill.
- Onboarding into new codebases with AI can feel faster at first but leads to weaker understanding and confidence.
Emotional & psychological effects
- AI use is described as dopamine‑like: quick gratification makes slower, deeper work feel like a chore.
- People report growing self‑doubt, impostor feelings, and compulsive urges to have AI review or even write everything.
- For some, AI also amplifies avoidance (e.g., asking bots instead of colleagues, worsening social anxiety).
Patterns for “healthy” use
- Use AI as:
- a tutor/mentor (explaining code, concepts, trade‑offs),
- a brainstorming/design partner,
- a generator for boilerplate, tests, refactors, and repetitive variants,
- a red‑team/reviewer to find flaws.
- Recommended practices: plan first, work in small steps, strict verification/testing, aggressive refactoring, Socratic questioning, and periodic “AI‑free” practice.
Workplace dynamics & job security
- Management often pushes AI for velocity; some devs feel turned into project managers or “intern babysitters.”
- Fears of layoffs and devalued experience coexist with a counter‑view that massive AI‑generated messes will eventually increase demand for competent engineers.
Broader reflections on the craft
- Tension between joy in hand‑crafting code vs. seeing code as mere tooling.
- Concern that AI accelerates a long‑running trend toward shallow thinking and loss of professional pride; others feel AI lets them tackle far harder, more interesting problems.