I Tried Coding Without AI Code Editors… and Instantly Remembered Why I Pay for Them

Here’s what happened:

1. My typing speed doubled…
   …because apparently, I forgot how many keystrokes normal humans type when an AI isn’t autocompleting const into a 50-line function.

2. StackOverflow became my emotional support animal.
   I didn’t realize how much Copilot shields me from wading through 7-year-old “accepted answers” that don’t even compile anymore.

3. My code actually looked… mine?
   Which sounds great until you realize “mine” = inconsistent naming, unnecessary comments, and at least three functions named testFunc2.

4. I caught myself whispering “just autocomplete this one loop, please” to my VS Code screen.
   Spoiler: it didn’t.

After two days, I gave up. Turned Copilot back on. Cursor welcomed me back like an old friend. And honestly? I don’t care if AI makes me “lazy.” It also makes me paid.
So yeah, respect to the devs still flexing their pure-brain muscle without AI — but for me, coding without it felt like riding a bike with square wheels. Technically possible. Painfully stupid.