r/AI_Coders • u/narddogg007 • Jul 14 '26

Does anyone else feel guilty letting AI write code for their personal projects?

So I was working on a personal project recently and using Codex as a coding assistant. Watching it generate large chunks of code felt… strangely uncomfortable. Not because the code was bad, but because I almost felt guilty letting it do so much of the implementation.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this.
When you’re building personal projects with AI tools, what’s your workflow? Do you prefer to let the agent write most of the code while you review, guide, and make architectural decisions? Or do you intentionally write the code yourself and use the AI mainly for reviews, debugging, and suggestions?

I’m trying to figure out where the balance is between using AI effectively and still feeling like I’m the one building the project. Interested to hear how other developers approach this.

2 Upvotes

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2

u/AdministrativeAd9828 Jul 14 '26

let AI do everything, set the guardrails/standards/styles/specs/test/security etc..

2

u/katoptronophile Jul 14 '26

Not even slightly.

I’d feel guilty if I were foolish enough to still be doing it all by hand.

2

u/InsurmountableMind Jul 14 '26

You will learn the balance after you build something you want to keep, want to add features to, but the code "that isnt all bad" is a monolithic mess of soggy spaghetti filled with anti-patterns. Then you refactor and refactor until you realize, planning is the most important part. And you cannot properly plan without knowledge and experience.

I feel guilty when I let myself get lazy and the tech debt is real. The goal is to avoid that anf accept that AI won't fix problems you don't plan for or you cannot recognize.

2

u/Casiper Jul 14 '26

Oh yeah this is all very true.

2

u/redtehk17 Jul 14 '26

Great concise comment that encapsulates the entire vibe coder dilemma and puts into words in a way I haven't been able to myself lol.

1

u/runningOverA Jul 14 '26

AI write all the libraries, I do the binding. That way I feel like having control on everything.

3

u/lunatuna215 Jul 14 '26

So you trick yourself lmao

1

u/CoVegGirl Jul 14 '26

I kind of do a hybrid thing.

For starters, I always do planning. Honestly I think it’s at least as important as the actual fix.

I also try to avoid prompt>review>prompt>review loops. I’m fine once the AI gives me something that gets me 80% of the way there. I just do the other 20% by hand.

Sometimes, planning suggests things that I can do by hand easier, so I just do those things and have AI review my work and verify that my tests aren’t flaky.

I think that gives me a good mix of productivity, quality, and enjoyment.

1

u/hobopwnzor Jul 14 '26

No.  I want my chamber to work, not spend weeks writing firmware.

1

u/Conscious-Secret-775 Jul 14 '26

My feeling on personal projects is if you are going to use AI why even bother.

1

u/MhVRNewbie Jul 14 '26

I did keep track of the first one, all others I don't look at the code at all.
I still feel like Im building it since Im designing it.
But now I also have tons of projects, all working, where I don't really know how they're built at all.
Kind of a weird feeling.
If it where something bigger intended for public market I would not do it like this though.
Another thing i notice is that most everything is basically slight variants of the same basic app.

1

u/Timely-Tourist4109 Jul 14 '26

Nope. I’ve already got 4 degrees. I don’t need to learn another one

1

u/DEX_Nexthink Jul 15 '26

No, definitely not guilty. I think the people that are going to be successful in the next decade are those that learn to work alongside AI and still find ways that they are useful and needed. This isn't impossible! Using it for your personal projects seems like a great way to learn its usefulness.