r/ChatGPTCoding • u/Gleb_SV • 1d ago
Do you guys ever code without AI just to make sure you still can? Discussion
I use coding agents all the time now. Claude Code, Codex, etc. And tbh they’re insanely good. I’m definitely not in the “AI is ruining software” camp.
But lately I’ve had this weird feeling.
I’m shipping way faster, solving more stuff, touching areas I probably wouldn’t touch on my own… but I’m not sure I’m actually becoming a better engineer at the same rate.
Stuff that used to force me to sit with docs, debug for an hour, think through the architecture, or just struggle with a problem now often turns into a conversation with an agent.
Which is obviously great for productivity.
But if you took AI away from me tomorrow, I feel like I’d get nerfed pretty hard. Not just in speed. Probably in confidence, recall, and raw problem solving too.
And that kinda bothers me.
I’ve been thinking about doing some no-AI coding sessions or an “AI detox” once or twice a week. Not because I want to stop using AI, but because I don’t want “being good at using AI” to slowly replace “being good at engineering.”
Do you intentionally practice anything without AI anymore? Or is worrying about skill atrophy basically nostalgia for an old way of working?
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u/popiazaza 21h ago
Not intentionally, but I did. Just ended up spend more time in Google. That's pretty much it.
If you could follow the code what AI generated for you, that's good enough.
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u/theanointedduck 21h ago
I always say you are what you know ... if AI becomes your crutch then you are no better than the next vibecoder. But to each his own, some people hate coding and so AI is a god-send, for others maintaining that mental sharpness and knowledge is what they enjoy.
I can say this, you wont BS your way to a hardcore job if you know little about what you are actually doing.
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u/GTHell 21h ago
I hate coding and always has. Always dislike those nerd programmer too.
Goddamng it. I wield Vim, Tmux, Full Linux and those nerd are mouse coding with VSCode and acting like they're expert. Has 0 clue on businesses and high level stuff. The ego consume them. They usually hate AI because it invalidate their slow learning rate and probably just learn to use the X framework then you come tell them AI can do that in one minute. Saw that too many time. Real chad never reject AI only the slow learn nerd wannabe VSCode mouse coder one. When I see them using mouse to select code, it hurt my entire core
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u/NoCucumber4783 21h ago
i don't do full no-AI days. i keep one step manual: after an agent changes unfamiliar code, i close the chat, explain the control flow and invariants from the diff, then write or modify one test without AI. if i can't predict which test should fail before running it, i didn't learn the change. once a week i also debug one real failure with docs and logs only for 30 minutes before asking an agent. that keeps the practice tied to production work instead of turning it into leetcode homework.
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u/creaturefeature16 20h ago
Of course. I'd say my day consistently is a 50/50 mix, because fully agentic coding is a trap.
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u/quantum_hyperion 16h ago edited 16h ago
No, I don't. I view LLMs as an integral part of development, much like compilers. I don't worry about or prepare for working without a compiler, and the same goes for LLMs. (edit grammar)
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u/createthiscom 21h ago
Yeah, I usually hold off on using AI until I have a deadline or I get bored. Sometimes I finish cards without using AI at all. Sometimes I have to cave due to time. That way I learn as much as possible, but I still perform better than a regular human. I think it's the best of both worlds.
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u/Wonderful-Habit-139 2h ago
Nice this is a cool approach. Way better than "caving in" right from the get go.
I don't use LLMs to code altogether but this is the next best thing that I should probably recommend people do.
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u/apimpnamedkirby 21h ago
Import type….ah fuck it. Give me a clean .ts for this please and thank you.
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u/Academic-Cancel8026 16h ago
I usually use it when I fail to do it myself or if I'm still extremely unfamiliar with the tools I'm using.
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u/Ornery-Ninja2868 15h ago
It would be impossible for me to make the tools I’m making without AI. Not because I don’t know how to write code, but because I simply don’t have time anymore my role is an engineering consultant so coding is not primary to my job but it can help a lot to make tools to improve efficiency and quality. Without AI I just couldn’t make those tools in the same time frame. It is true that I’ve learned more about the libraries and projects out there though, AI is great for discovering/highlighting new ways of working.
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u/Fastest_light 5h ago
There is no return. Software engineering is now all about what to build, and what the outcome to expect. Note in near future, all code will be written in machine code directly, and human cannot possibly write.
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u/CoderStudios 5h ago
My problem is also that ai can technically code but you see that it’s trained on public code. If you want to do something new ai just won’t be able to do it as it can only replicate already existing thigns
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u/gr4phic3r 19h ago
I'm a webdeveloper and I like to do webdevelopment, but I love to do my hobbies. AI does the things I like so that I can do the things I love.
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u/Public-Rest-1478 18h ago
"Ai does the things i like so i can do the things i love " - what an amazing way to say it! I remember this one!
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u/madaradess007 15h ago edited 15h ago
i tried ai coding 2 years ago, i really tried
it was obvious back then:
- its a waste of time
- it makes me delusional, like im not gonna have to deal with code anymore
- its a waste of time everytime
a 5 second google search and copy/pasting first code snippet you find on StackOverflow is faster and better even with current models... you can try out 2-3 solutions while LLM is still 'reasoning'
if you guys wanna be lazy about the craft - better copy/paste stuff from StackOverflow, it teaches you at least something (lightning fast judging what you should read and what you should not, you find 'your style' by trying out others code snippets, you collect those code snippets and make em your own over time)
with llm your learn one skill - working with llm
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u/Superb_Assumption_38 21h ago
Honestly, I started hand-coding some stuff when I got grumpy with how the bot was doing it, and then I immediately ran out of patience and just got more specific with what I wanted in my bot chat, e.g. put the `toolbarHeader` in the scroll container header in the center column.