A year ago, I thought AI tools would make me lazy.
I was wrong.
They exposed how inefficient my workflow actually was.
This is not a hype piece about AI writing entire apps. This is about what actually changed when I started using AI daily as a developer and what didn’t.
The Lie I Believed About Productivity
I assumed productivity was about typing faster.
It isn’t.
Most of my time was wasted on:
- Searching for answers I half remembered
- Rewriting boilerplate I had written dozens of times
- Debugging obvious mistakes after staring too long at the same file
AI did not remove thinking from my job.
It removed friction.
That difference matters.
What AI Is Genuinely Good At
1. Explaining Code I Wrote Months Ago
You know the feeling.
You open a file and think, “Why did I do this?”
AI is excellent at:
- Explaining legacy code
- Summarizing functions
- Translating messy logic into plain language
This does not replace understanding. It accelerates it.
2. Acting as a Rubber Duck That Talks Back
Talking through problems works. AI just responds faster than my desk.
I use it to:
- Validate assumptions
- Spot edge cases I missed
- Suggest alternative approaches I had not considered
Most suggestions are not perfect. That is fine. They still force better thinking.
3. Killing Boilerplate Without Killing Context
Generating repetitive setup code is where AI shines.
Configs, types, mocks, migrations.
This saves time without touching the core logic where human judgment matters most.
Where AI Still Falls Apart
Let’s be honest.
AI is bad at:
- Understanding product intent
- Making architectural tradeoffs
- Knowing when not to add complexity
It will confidently suggest patterns that are unnecessary or actively harmful if you follow them blindly.
If you copy paste without thinking, the problem is not AI.
It is you.
The Real Shift Was Psychological
The biggest change was not speed.
It was momentum.
Less friction meant:
- Fewer context switches
- Less frustration
- More energy for actual problem solving
That is why AI feels powerful. Not because it is smarter than you, but because it removes the tiny annoyances that slowly drain motivation.
A Rule That Keeps Me From Becoming Lazy
I never ask AI to:
- Design the system
- Decide tradeoffs
- Own critical logic
I ask it to:
- Explain
- Suggest
- Refactor with constraints
If I cannot explain the result in my own words, I do not ship it.
Simple rule. Big difference.
What This Means for Developers
AI is not replacing developers.
It is replacing:
- Poor documentation
- Repetitive grunt work
- The excuse of “I’ll figure it out later”
The developers who struggle will not be the ones who use AI.
They will be the ones who rely on it without understanding.
Final Thought
AI did not make me a better developer.
It forced me to confront how I work.
And that turned out to be the most valuable upgrade of all.
Top comments (1)
You right but from a CTO’s perspective, the value of AI tools in engineering isn’t measured by how much code they generate, but by how much cognitive bandwidth they free for strategic thinking and design.