I’ve been building things for a long time.
Websites, apps, experiments.
Some finished, most quietly left in folders with names like “v3-final-final”.
But the funny thing is:
I actually feel more capable than I used to.
I can make things faster now.
I can try ideas without worrying whether I’ll “get stuck.”
I can build things I would have been too overwhelmed to even attempt before.
And the reason is simple:
I use AI when I code.
I don’t hide that.
But I also don’t really talk about it.
Because sometimes it feels like cheating.
The quiet voice that shows up after the code runs
I’ll write something with the help of AI — something I understand, something that works — and for a few seconds I feel good about it.
And then the voice arrives:
- “You didn’t really build this.”
- “A real developer would have typed it themselves.”
- “You’re just stitching together other people’s ideas.”
- “If someone saw your process, they’d think you’re faking it.”
It’s strange how quickly pride can turn into doubt.
The code runs.
The feature works.
The idea became real.
And still, I feel like I’ve done something wrong.
I thought the struggle was the work
That’s the part I didn’t notice until recently.
I used to believe that the value of programming was in how hard it was.
That the more I struggled, the more it “counted.”
That if something came easily, it didn’t mean anything.
So when AI made parts of the work lighter, easier, gentler —
I didn’t feel smarter or faster.
I felt less real.
But the real point was never the keystrokes
It wasn’t about typing every line.
It wasn’t about remembering every syntax detail.
It wasn’t about wrestling with the same error for six hours to prove I deserved to make things.
The value was always in the thing I wanted to make.
The idea.
The intention.
The story.
The usefulness.
The feeling it gives someone else.
AI didn’t replace that.
It just removed some of the friction between imagination and reality.
And maybe that’s okay.
Maybe the creativity was mine the whole time
Maybe:
- The idea was mine.
- The direction was mine.
- The decision-making was mine.
- The understanding was mine.
- The taste — the part that says “Yes, this feels right” — was mine.
Maybe AI didn’t make me less of a developer.
Maybe it made me more able to express the developer I already was.
If you feel this too
If you’ve ever looked at working code you wrote with help
and felt proud and ashamed at the same time,
you’re not alone.
A lot of us are quietly carrying that feeling.
And maybe the gentlest thing we can tell ourselves is:
The work was never about proving your worth.
It was about bringing something into the world that didn’t exist before.
And you did that.
That counts.
Top comments (57)
I totally understand the feeling but for that same reasoning we should not use IDE or autocomplete or even built our own OS.
We use tools and when those tools does not exist, we create a new one using the existing tools, that's basically our job and AI is no more than another tool.
As you said, the key here is to value what you bring into the solution, the idea, the orchestration, those moments when you say "not this way", when you spot an error, etc.
Put this in a different order, imagine you have a more senior engineer than you giving you instructions, correcting your errors, maybe you bring options into the table but that person chooses, teaches you the why's, and so on. Is that person not worthy of the success or failure of the project just because is not hitting the keyboard as many times as you? :) Because basically that is what you are doing when you are using the AI.
I totally agree with you that work was never about proving your worth (maybe corporate world does not agree here :D) but the real value is to solve a problem at the end of the day, trying to not create another one in the way :)
Good topic!
Well said! And I think the corporate world will slowly warm up to it. :)
I get this feeling too. AI makes me faster and braver with ideas, but there’s still that weird guilt like I “should’ve” done it the hard way. Then I look at what actually matters, which is the thing I built, the choices I made, the taste I brought into it. AI didn’t give me that. It just cleared some of the friction so I could actually finish things. Using a tool isn’t cheating, it’s just part of creating, and the intent was always yours.
I completely agree. A lot of the laboring walls onto the AI, but the idea and vision is still yours and you're making it happen. I love coming up with random ideas for projects and actually making them happen. :)
This is such a solid reflection. I’ve been in your shoes, building with AI and feeling a bit like I'm cheating until I realized what was really happening: AI isn’t taking over, it’s unlocking bandwidth so you can code smarter, not just faster. When I was developing ScrumBuddy using Claude AI, our goal was never to replace the coder, it was to empower the coder to add their input, steer the output, and stay in control while hitting production-grade speed and efficiency.
Here’s my take: if you feel like you're cheating, you’re on the right path. Because what’s actually happening is you’re leveraging tools to handle the repeatable work and freeing your mind for bigger decisions; architecture, user flows, edge cases. And that’s where the real craft lives. AI gets the boilerplate done; you get to stay human in the loop, make the trade-offs, keep the ownership.
If you’re open to it, I’d love to show you how ScrumBuddy sets up that loop. AI scaffolds the code, you review + tweak, you stay in control. It’s the best of both worlds. Keep going, the future of coding is human + AI, not AI alone.
Sounds like a really interesting project you have going. I'm currently using a mix of ChatGPT, Codex and Cursor IDE.
ChatGPT I use mainly as a brainstorming buddy. We build up the idea, structure and feeling of what we want to make.
After that I take that information to either Codex or Cursor depending on if I'm on mobile or computer to start setting up the project.
How would ScrumBuddy make that process different?
Thanks for your response. 🙂
Love the workflow you described. ChatGPT for ideation, then Codex/Cursor for scaffolding is exactly how a lot of builders piece things together today. ScrumBuddy basically compresses all of that into a single, structured pipeline so you don’t have to hand-carry context between tools or redo the same setup steps every time you switch environments.
The biggest difference is that ScrumBuddy doesn’t just help you talk about the idea, it actually formalizes it. It turns your concept into a PRD, epics, stories, acceptance criteria, data models, test plans, and architecture before it ever touches code. That foundation becomes the source-of-truth the agents use when writing code, generating UI, and pushing PRs. So instead of bouncing between “brainstorm mode” and “coding mode,” you stay in one environment where everything is aligned.
The other piece is continuity. Instead of restarting the conversation in each tool, ScrumBuddy keeps the entire context stack persistent; requirements, rationale, constraints, edge cases and feeds that into every generation. It feels less like chatting with multiple assistants and more like working with a small dev team that remembers everything you’ve already decided.
So the short version: you’ll still be steering the direction and making the big calls, but ScrumBuddy removes the friction between ideation → planning → coding → iteration. You get clarity faster, cleaner structure, and production-grade output without juggling tools.
If you’re curious, I’d love for you to try it once the beta opens. I think your workflow would actually slot into ScrumBuddy insanely well.
Sure. I'd be interested in trying it. :)
Don’t beat yourself up or stress out about it. If you’re an experienced developer, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using AI to help with your work. Just keep in mind that whatever lands on your desk should leave it polished and ready, no matter how you got there. Life isn’t just about the 9 to 5 grind, make sure to spend quality time on your personal life, family, vacations, DIY projects, and whatever else makes you happy. At the end of the day, companies care about results, not the exact process you used to get there. If you don’t deliver, they’ll find someone else and move forward. So, relax, enjoy yourself, and take full advantage of technology whenever it’s available to make your life easier.
Well said. I agree. 🙂
Nice idea there, that you felt the value of programming to be in how difficult it was. I can relate. Then again, the monetary value of programming really was in how difficult it is/was. Otherwise, why would they pay you?
You have a valid point, but as of right now at least AI isn't flawless and it can get caught up in trying to fix bugs by trying the same thing over and over again. To make something polished enough for certain standards you still need to understand the code and how to debug.
There is still a monetary value in developers, but that might not be the case forever.
That last part of the statement becomes scary once you have a family! ;-)
I have a family and it is kinda scary. We as developers may be one of the professions hit hardest if the AI becomes so advanced that you no longer need to understand the code that is written.
Digital artists (photo and video) are also on the line.
The world is changing and we have to adapt to it the best we can.
Wow, this hit hard. 💭 The part about “AI removing the friction between imagination and reality” really resonated. I’ve felt that same mix of pride and guilt — but you’re right, the real value is in what we create, not how much we struggle to make it. Beautifully written. 🙌
I agree. In the end, what should matter is what was created, not how it was created. :) Thank you for your response.
This hit deeply. I’ve been through the same — that strange guilt of using AI and feeling like I’m “cheating.” But the truth is, AI just expands what we’re capable of creating. The creativity and direction were always ours. Beautifully written reminder. 💛
I completely agree! It allows me to be more creative with what I'm making instead of just have a pile of code to write. Thank you for your response. :)
I kinda have a conflict of interests here, i often justify myself by saying that ai is like calculator, it was built to make our life easier, sticking tradition will just make the progress slow... But the other part of me says...the calculators exists but so do the mathematicians.... Nothing in me changes..prompt engineering is not the hard... Just like mathematicians... Every programmers needs to know every bit of code.. inorder to innovate or develop...
I really connected with this. I’ve felt that same mix of pride and guilt when using AI in my workflow. But over time, I’ve realized it’s not cheating - it’s evolving. The creativity, decisions, and problem-solving still come from us; AI just removes the roadblocks that slow us down. We don’t lose our identity as developers by using better tools—we expand it. The real value was never in the struggle, but in bringing ideas to life.
Agreed. And with AI a lot of new and cool ideas are definitely being brought to life. 😀
I felt every word you said, because that's exactly how I was feeling today. In just one month, I developed and implemented three ideas that I had had in mind for so long, and I hadn't set out to build them because, of course, it would take a lot of time and energy, and I didn't think it was possible to do what could be done with prompts. But now that I'm doing it, it's clear to me, and I didn't feel proud at all.
I even belittled what I had “done”; I didn't see its value.
But of course, the idea I had is now ready, and I can iterate and continue to make it grow, which is what's important.
I'll take your phrase with me:
The work was never about proving your worth...
It's your ideas and they have value no matter how they were created. :)
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