How AI Changed the Way I Learn to Code

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to learn to code now that AI can generate so much of the code for us. And the more I explore it, the more I’ve realized that writing everything by hand was never the real point. I’m not claiming this as some universal truth, this is just something I keep coming back to as I learn and build.

For me, coding has always been more about understanding than memorizing. It’s about the ideas behind the code: how the pieces connect, what the logic is, and why a solution works. The computer has always been a tool. AI is simply a more powerful one. And using it hasn’t made me feel like I’m skipping the learning. If anything, it’s pushed me to think more clearly than before.

I’ve noticed that AI right now is mostly dumb. It’s only as good as what you prompt it to do. If my thinking is vague, the output is vague. If I’m unclear, the code is unclear. AI mirrors the quality of my understanding almost perfectly. And when it fails, I’m learning to look back at myself first. Maybe I didn’t articulate the idea well. Maybe I didn’t really understand the logic yet. Maybe I didn’t break the problem down enough. That realization has been surprisingly grounding.

It’s also made me rethink how much of programming is actually about memorization. If I forget how to write a for loop, I can look it up in five seconds. Syntax isn’t the point. Memorizing every detail isn’t the point. What matters is knowing how to think about a problem and how to break it down, how to structure it, and how to make sense of the moving parts. Everything else is reference material.

Another thing I’ve realized is that most software isn’t built from scratch anyway. It’s assembled from existing pieces like functions, libraries, and patterns that have been used and reused thousands of times. Using those pieces doesn’t make me feel less like a developer. It makes me feel connected to a long chain of people building on each other’s work. That’s how progress happens.

So my belief, just my belief, is that learning to code in the age of AI is really about clarity, taste, and intuition. It’s about understanding the system well enough to guide the machine, question its output, refine it, and improve it. The manual typing matters less than the thinking behind it. And in a strange way, AI makes that thinking even more important.

These are my reflections so far. I’m still learning, still experimenting, still figuring it out. But seeing coding through this lens makes the whole process feel more honest, more practical, and a lot more exciting.