Don't Outsource the Learning

Right now, it's too easy to let AI write the code while you skip the learning. The bug gets fixed but your mental model doesn't move. It might get worse over time. We are silently trading future capability for present-day speed, and the tools won't force us to do otherwise. That part has to come from you.

Right now, it's too easy to let AI write the code while you skip the learning. The bug gets fixed but your mental model doesn't move. It might get worse over time. We are silently trading future capability for present-day speed, and the tools won't force us to do otherwise. That part has to come from you.

There's a default loop most of us have settled into. You paste in a spec or error message. The model hands you a fix and the symptom vanishes. You ship. Somewhere in that loop, the messy struggle between problem and solution stops happening at all.

There's a default loop most of us have settled into. You paste in a spec or error message. The model hands you a fix and the symptom vanishes. You ship. Somewhere in that loop, the messy struggle between problem and solution stops happening at all.

I've written before about cognitive surrender, the moment an AI reviewer's verdict quietly replaces your own. This is the solo version of that same loop. It's just you and the model. The model is faster, so you stop trying to compete on comprehension. Across thousands of these small interactions, what you can actually build without an AI looking over your shoulder gets a little weaker every week. None of these moments feel like a problem on the day they happen.

I've written before about cognitive surrender, the moment an AI reviewer's verdict quietly replaces your own. This is the solo version of that same loop. It's just you and the model. The model is faster, so you stop trying to compete on comprehension. Across thousands of these small interactions, what you can actually build without an AI looking over your shoulder gets a little weaker every week. None of these moments feel like a problem on the day they happen.

I'm ...