[kevin42]

Is it just me, or does anyone else use AI not just to write code, but to learn. Since I've been using Claude I've learned a lot about Rust by having it build things for me, then working with that code. I've never been a front end guy, but I had it write a Chrome plugin for me, then I used that code to learn how it works. It's not a black box to me, but I don't need to look up some CSS stuff I've never used. I can prompt Claude to write it and then I can look at it then "Huh, that's how it works". Better than researching it myself, I can see an example of exactly how it's done, then I learn from that.

I'm doing a lot of new things I never would have done before. Yes, I could have googled APIs and read tutorials, but I learn best by doing, and AI helps me learn a lot faster.

[pdntspa]

I second this. It's like having a second brain with domain expertise in pretty much anything I could want to ask questions of. And while factual assertions may still be problematic (hallucinations), I can very quickly run code and see if it does what I want or not. I don't care if it hallucinates if it solves my problem with code that is half decent. Which it does.

[fpauser]

> I don't care if it hallucinates if it solves my problem with code that is half decent. Which it does.

Sometimes.

[xp84]

A competent developer should be able to read the code, spot any defects in “decency”, and fix them (or indeed, explain as you would to a junior dev how you want it fixed and let AI fix it). And of course they should have tests that should be able to categorically prove that the code does what it is supposed to do.

[pdntspa]

Then you don't know how to work with it. Just like a real programmer first-pass code is meh. But then you circle back and have it refine.

[chankstein38]

Me too! I got into ESP32s and sensors thanks to AI. I wouldn't have had time or energy after stressful work all day but thanks to them I can get firmware written for my projects. Along the way I'm also learning how the firmware has to be written and finding issues with what the AI wrote and correcting them.

If people aren't learning from AI it's their fault. Yeah AI makes stuff up and hallucinates and can be wrong but how is that different than a distracted senior dev? AI is available to me 24/7 to answer my questions in minutes or seconds where half the time when I message people I have to wait 30-60min for a response.

People just need to approach things intelligently and actually learn along the way. You can easily get to the point where you're thinking more clearly about a problem than the AI writing your code pretty quickly if you just pay attention and do the research you need to understand what's happening. They're not as factual as a textbook but they don't need to be to give you the space to ask the right questions and they'll frequently provide sources (though I'd heavily recommend checking them. Sometimes the sources are a joke)

[striking]

I do agree this is where AI shines. If you need a quick rehash of something that's been done a zillion times before or a quick integration between two known good components, AI's great.

But the skills you describe are still skills, reading and researching and doing your own fact finding are still important to practice and be good at. Those things only get more important in situations off the beaten path, where AI doesn't always give you trustworthy answers or do trustworthy work.

I'm still going to nurture some of these skills. If I'm trying to learn, I'll stick to using AI only when I'm truly stuck or no longer having fun.

[outside2344]

I am using AI to learn EVERYTHING. Spanish, code, everything. Honestly, the largest acceleration I am getting is in research towards design docs (which then get used for implementation).

[chankstein38]

I'm curious how the spanish is going! Have you used any interesting methods or are you just kind of talking to it and asking it questions about spanish?

[shadowgovt]

I have definitely had Claude make recommendations that gave me structural insight into the code that I didn't have on my own, and I integrated that insight.

People who claim "It's not synthesized, it's just other people's work run through a woodchipper" aren't precisely right, but they also aren't precisely wrong... And in this space, having the whole ecosystem of programmers who published code looking over my shoulder as I try to solve problems is a huge boon.

[RationPhantoms]

Absolutely. It's a tireless rubik's cube. One that you can rotate endlessly to digest new material. It doesn't sigh heavily or not have the mental bandwidth to answer. Yes, it should not be trusted with high precision information but the world can get by quite well on vibes.

[okokwhatever]

This is the smartest answer in this polarized thread

[mmoll]

That may be dangerous. The more obscure the topic, the more likely it is that the AI will come up with a working but needlessly convoluted solution.

[kevin42]

Compared to what though? I have ended up with needlessly convoluted solutions when learning something the old-fashioned way before. Then over time, as I learn more, I improve my approach.

Not everyone has access to an expert that will guide them to the most efficient way to do something.

With either form of learning though, critical thinking is required.