AI has been around for the past few years. I wasn’t interested in it — until ChatGPT was created by OpenAI. I started using it in my day job. To be honest, it wasn’t of much help. But, it was helping me just a bit. Because mind you, AI is still terrible at many things. I wrote a detailed article on ChatGPT vs Google Gemini. Give it a read and let me know about it in the comments.

But what I skipped in that article was going deep into how developers can get help from ChatGPT. I just glossed over this part. Because I think that AI isn’t of much help for developers. There are many reasons why you should avoid using AI, especially if you are a beginner. But let me tell you the reasons why I won’t ever use AI while coding.

1. You Can’t Brush Up Your Coding Skills

Yes, you read that right. When you overly rely on AI to complete your work, you are actually missing the opportunity to hone your skills. What’s worse is that at times, AI — read ChatGPT — gives you wrong information. Believe me, if you do this then you can’t discern right from wrong and this is wrong from every angle. At times, there are certain nitty gritty things in coding that can make or break your career.

2. You Lose Confidence

When instead of brainstorming or researching, you use AI to do your tasks, then you lose confidence. Why? Well, we humans are wired in a way that we feel happier when our knowledge or skills are put to great use. On the other hand, if we achieve something where we can put in the work but don't, then our happiness is just for fleeting moments.

3. You Lose Your Uniqueness

Diamond and pebble. Both are rock. But both don’t have the same worth. Give someone a 0.5-carat diamond and see their wide smile. But try giving someone a pebble. The same is true in coding as well. Sure, AI might help you debug or even write code. But the code AI is giving you can also be given to any other person. So, why should people hire you instead of others when there are people who can do what you’re doing?

4. You Won’t Improve

People say that coding is difficult. I echo this. But when you are a programmer, this is something you should be ready for. Coding is difficult. If it were easy then every other person would be a coder ( you may or may not agree with this point). In fact, don’t difficult concepts in programming languages help us improve? Like, sure knowing how to use arithmetic operations in coding will help you create a code for a calculator. But it won’t move the needle in your career. You must create something big. Because that’s how you’ll improve and move towards a higher salary.