Hey, Dev.to community! 👋
I’m Arpit Gupta, a software engineer, open-source enthusiast, and the kind of person who spends way too much time convincing themselves, “Just one more commit and I’ll sleep.”
I’ve contributed to some cool open-source projects, built tools that (hopefully) make developers’ lives easier, and, oh yeah, I blog about the wild rollercoaster that is coding.
But confession time: six months ago, I thought AI coding assistants were just glorified autocorrect. “Sure, Skynet, suggest another broken for loop,” I’d joke. Spoiler alert: I was very wrong.
Let me tell you about the time I spent 30 days pair programming with AI. It started with a 2 AM debugging crisis, one of those bugs that make you rethink every life decision. By the end of the experiment, I’d learned some surprising lessons—not just about coding, but about myself.
The Breaking Point
It all began with a frustrating bug. You know the kind: the one that haunts you for hours and makes you question if you’re even cut out for this job. After hours of staring at my screen, I reluctantly decided to try something new—pair programming with an AI assistant.
I had nothing to lose at this point, right?
What happened next was a game-changer.
1. AI Isn't Replacing Us—It's Making Us Think Differently
At first, I thought AI would just save me time by auto-completing code. But it didn’t. Instead, it forced me to think more deeply about my approach. It didn’t replace my creativity—it amplified it.
Here’s what I learned:
- Articulate problems more clearly: AI helped me reframe issues, breaking them down in ways I hadn’t thought of.
- Deconstruct complex problems: Instead of brute-forcing a solution, I had to break down the problem step-by-step, making the solution more robust.
- Question assumptions: AI didn’t follow "best practices" blindly, and that pushed me to rethink what I knew about coding.
2. The Human Touch is More Valuable Than Ever
Here’s the real twist: working with AI showed me how irreplaceable human creativity is. While AI could suggest code, it lacked the intuition, empathy, and contextual understanding that only humans have.
For example, AI might suggest an elegant solution:
const optimizedCode = aiSuggestion.implement();
But I knew that our users needed a solution that wasn't just optimized, but contextually relevant:
const realWorldSolution = humanContext.adapt(optimizedCode);
3. The Good, The Bad, and The Hilarious
Some days were amazing:
- Solved a week-long problem in 2 hours
- Refactored legacy code that everyone was too afraid to touch
- Discovered coding patterns I didn’t even know existed
Other days... well, let’s just say AI has its quirks:
- AI suggested solutions that would’ve crashed our system
- Spent an hour debugging only to realize that the AI’s solution was creating more problems
- Had to explain to my team why there were comments about “quantum blockchain optimization” in my code. 😅
4. The Real Game-Changer: How It Changed My Learning Process
The biggest surprise wasn’t just the code—it was how AI transformed my learning. Instead of blindly copying solutions, I found myself diving deeper into topics I usually avoided:
- Code architecture
- Performance implications
- Edge cases
It pushed me to not just ask, “How can I solve this?” but, “Why does this solution work better?”
Before AI:
// Copy-paste from Stack Overflow and pray
After AI:
// Understand why this pattern works better
// Discuss trade-offs
// Learn about alternative approaches
5. The Impact on Team Dynamics
It didn’t just change how I worked—it changed how my team worked, too:
- Code reviews shifted from focusing on syntax to discussing architecture
- Junior developers started asking deeper, more insightful questions
- Our documentation improved, partly because explaining things to AI helped clarify them for the rest of the team.
6. The Hard Truth: AI is Not Without Its Drawbacks
AI is powerful, but it’s not perfect. I had to face a few hard truths:
- Over-reliance on AI suggestions: I started trusting it too much at times
- Analysis paralysis: With so many suggestions, I found it hard to choose the best one
- The temptation to implement complex solutions when a simple one would do.
7. What I Wish I Knew Earlier
If there’s one thing I’d want you to take away from this, it’s that AI isn’t your replacement—it’s your amplifier.
Here’s what I learned:
- AI is like a junior developer with some brilliant ideas
- The best results come from balancing AI’s suggestions with your own judgment
- Your domain knowledge and human creativity are more valuable than ever
Looking Ahead: The Future of AI and Development
The development world is changing, but not in the way people think. We’re not being replaced by AI—we’re evolving. The future belongs to developers who can:
- Blend human creativity with AI efficiency
- Know when to use AI and when to trust human judgment
- Bridge the gap between AI’s potential and real-world needs
The Plot Twist: AI Made Me More Human
After 30 days, I realized something profound: AI didn’t make me less of a developer—it made me more human. It handled the repetitive stuff while I focused on what really matters: solving real problems for real people.
Your Turn:
Are you working with AI? I’d love to hear your experiences! Drop a comment below and share:
- Your biggest AI surprise
- A moment when AI completely missed the mark
- How you’re balancing AI assistance with your own instincts
Let’s keep learning and growing together. After all, it’s not about AI vs humans—it’s about humans and AI working in harmony.
Happy coding! 🚀
P.S.
The “quantum blockchain optimization” comment? It’s still in our codebase—and still gets a laugh during every sprint review.
If you're interested in exploring more about my work, projects, and open-source contributions, feel free to visit my portfolio at ArpitStack.com.
You can also check out my GitHub repositories for a stack of innovative solutions like SecretStack, CloudStack, and more: GitHub Profile.
If you find my work valuable, consider supporting me through GitHub Sponsors or by buying me a coffee. Your support is greatly appreciated!
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