I’ve been building more client projects lately, and I’ll be honest, ChatGPT is now part of my workflow whether I like it or not.
Not as a replacement.
Not as some magic tool.
Just there. Constantly.
Helping me break things down, debug faster, structure projects, move quicker.
<hr>
But I didn’t grow up coding with this.
A lot of you did this for years without AI:
<ul>
<li>figuring things out the hard way</li>
<li>reading docs line by line</li>
<li>debugging with nothing but logs and patience</li>
</ul>
And I respect that. Because that foundation is different.
<hr>
What I’m trying to figure out is this:
From your perspective: has AI actually made you better, or just faster?
Because from where I’m sitting, it feels like both, but also neither sometimes.
<hr>
On one hand, I’m moving faster than ever:
<ul>
<li>less time stuck</li>
<li>less time searching</li>
<li>faster iterations</li>
</ul>
On the other hand, I have to stay sharp. If I start trusting outputs without thinking, I can feel myself slipping. It’s subtle, but it’s real.
<hr>
I’ve caught myself a few times:
Shipping something that _works _but I didn’t fully break it down the way I normally would. That doesn’t sit right.
<hr>
So I’m curious how you’re handling it.
If you’ve been doing this 10+ years:
<ul>
<li>Has AI changed how you approach problems?</li>
<li>Do you trust it at all?</li>
<li>Has it made you rethink how juniors should learn?</li>
</ul>
Or do you see it as noise more than anything else?
<hr>
I’m not looking for surface-level takes.
I want to hear what actually changed for you in your day-to-day coding, decision making, and how you think through problems now.
<hr>
Because right now, it feels like the rules are shifting [🤔] and I want to make sure I’m playing this the right way.

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Dev World

A developer reflects on integrating AI tools like ChatGPT into their daily coding workflow and poses questions to senior developers about how AI has genuinely changed their approach to problem-solving, decision-making, and mentoring juniors. The post explores the tension between moving faster with AI assistance versus maintaining deep understanding and sharp fundamentals.

Dear Senior Devs, How Has AI Actually Changed the Way You Code?

I’ve been a developer about 20 years and now that we’re three years into LLMs, I’ve come to the conclusion that that LLMs don’t actually make me more productive or ship more features in a shorter amount of time. But, they have increased the quality of my work because I feel I have tools that help me iterate, refactor, and refine better than I can when I am just coding in isolation. I’ve always learned the most from other developers (and still do), but LLMs are a great alternative when you just need some fresh energy and different takes on what you’re trying to accomplish.
I don’t ship anything faster, nor do I really have any interest in doing so, if it means sacrificing insight, understanding, or quality. And LLMs impact all of those negatively.
In terms of my workflow, I mostly relate to these tools as a “Delegation Layer” and stick to using them like the “Four Rs”:
<ul>
<li>Rote</li>
<li>Refactor</li>
<li>Research</li>
<li>Reinforcement</li>
</ul>
I have a pretty long write up about how I relate to them, if you’re interested:
<a href="https://cheewebdevelopment.com/dont-vibe-code-delegate-responsible-development-with-llms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://cheewebdevelopment.com/dont-vibe-code-delegate-responsible-development-with-llms/</a>
Also, there’s nothing wrong with debugging with logs and your problem solving skills. This is an essential skill that new developers are going to struggle with because there will be less friction and they’ll feel completely stuck if the LLM doesn’t provide the right answer. I’m beginning to put together a <a href="https://confident-coding.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">course</a> about debugging specifically, because I think we’re going to need to teach it to developers, rather than expecting them to learn it on their own over time.