Copilot changed my mind about using AI for code

I used to think AI coding tools were just for people who didn't want to learn the basics properly. But last night I was stuck on a Python loop for 45 minutes and finally gave in and asked Copilot for help. It showed me a one line list comprehension that did what I spent an hour trying to do. It didn't write the whole thing for me, it just pointed me in the right direction and I actually learned something new. Anyone else have a moment where they felt dumb for ignoring tools like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

kimr3312d ago

Ha, that's the thing nobody talks about - it's not doing the work for you, it's more like having a senior dev looking over your shoulder who's really good at giving hints without spoiling the whole puzzle.

jamie_price12d ago

Yeah, that "hints without spoiling" part is spot on. I was messing with some API stuff last week and got stuck on a stupid CORS issue for like two hours. Threw the error into ChatGPT and it basically said "check your headers, dumbass" in the politest way possible. Led me right to the fix without just handing me the full code. Made me feel like I actually learned something instead of just copy-pasting a solution.