Pros and Cons using AI while learning?

[u/Ill-Librarian-1370]

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I've met a lot of people here who will just rain down hellfire on you for using AI when learning. I'm an ADHD kid, and AI really helped me. I had terrible experience with my teachers back home. So I used AI to create a learning plan. I started with Linux, booted up a Ubuntu USB, and then dug into different frameworks like React and Vue. This helped me build several web applications.

I'd say it depends on how you prompt your assistant and analyze its mistakes. When your skill grows over time, you'll also catch AI mistakes. AI doesn't generate bulletproof code. Is the assistant only as good as its owner?

[u/BrannyBee]

You wanted to learn programming, and ended up starting with Linux, setting up a USB, and jumped right into frameworks instead of just getting good at the base language those languages are used for.

Anyone that had spent all that time you spent on that stuff on Javascript or Typescript would be able to pick up React or Vue in a fraction of the time it took you. That same person will also be able to read AIs code more closely and quickly, as well as ask the AI more valuable questions. You got something working on your conputer, sure, but without the basics mastered you will basically be starting over everytime you deal with something new. The other guy who mastered Javascript will know exactly how to talk to the AI to quickly learn React 2.0, or whatever new thing that comes out becomes popular.

I dont say this to be mean, but to point out what you have no way of pointing out yourself. Why did the AI "skip" stuff that any experienced dev would say is very important in your plan? YOU ASKED FOR IT, it did its job, and probably even did it very well. You have no way of knowing if you skipped things or asked the right questions, all you know is that your question was answered. You're trying to master some crazy spinning, and yet you havent even learned how to jab properly. To you, you seem to have made amazing progress, but to anyone with real experience, you look like an amateur struggling to do something thats not a fraction as important as drilling the basics over and over again.

Im not saying to never use AI. I am saying, that someone that used no AI, struggled for a long time to solve problems themselves, and has written thousands and thousands of lines of code is going to be much better off than you. NOT because they're capable of making artisan hand crafted code the way our ancestors used to do, but because their master of the basics and experience writing code and solving problems will have made them 1000x faster at reading and understanding code, as well as explaining things to an AI or identifying issues with an AIs output.

You've noticed it yourself, how easy AI can be to get answers from. Its not hard to get code from my brain either with my level of experience. But if a client asked an AI to make them an app that will allow them to sell their art to others that will handle security, customer payments, track customers interest, allow them to make reviews, do recurring payments.... and a hundred other things... The AI will say "sure boss" and maybe it does do it correctly (assuming this is some imaginary world where no mistakes are made and no maintenance is ever required), and spent a million tokens along the way and be a nightmare if you ever touch it again, pray it doesnt break... costing who knows much money for you and the client, for who knows how good of a product....

I would tell that client "you don't need to hire to make this, you need to make a Shopify account. Maybe Wordpress. Would you like me to explain what I'd recommend for you to be able to do all that stuff yourself with their services for cheap? Or we could also discuss my rates for setting that up for you and training someone on your team to manage it"

You ask the AI for an answer, it will give you an answer. Claude isnt going to tell you "you're stupid for doing X, you should do Y" or "you dont need me to make X, Y already exists". It will do what you tell it to do. Mastering the basics and you'll be able to use AI better. Using it at your level the way you are right now will have you setting up a Linux box and practicing React and Vue at the same time for some reason under the impression that that's a good use of your time

[u/Ill-Librarian-1370 → u/BrannyBee]

One thing I've noticed about AI is how repetitive it can be. It repeats the same information over and over. I started coding the day I booted Ubuntu from a USB stick. The first application I built was a clock that shows real-time notifications and custom bubbles for them. Of course, I don't trust AI with everything. But for someone with ADHD, it can be very helpful to keep the focus on the task. Half of the things I learned came from Googling, not throwing prompts or writing useless code. People here would tell you to write the code by hand, yet this could go south like copy-pasting code you don't understand.

I've never claimed my learning technique is the best. AI helps me stay focused. If I can’t find something on Google, I can always prompt it.

[u/betarage]

The problem is that most coding guides are just really bad and don't even teach you what you need to know to do basic projects. and a lot of important info just seems hidden. the problem with ai is that the ai will try to write the entire program for you .so you may not end up learning how it actually works even if most of the time you probably want to tweak the program

[u/InterestingWaistcoat]

AI's a tool same as any other. The people screaming about it are usually the ones who never tried using it properly.

My trick is never copy paste the code, type it out myself so my fingers remember the patterns.

For ADHD it's actually perfect since you can bounce around topics without losing momentum waiting for human answers.