There was a time when I could stare at a blank terminal, summon a coffee-fueled epiphany, and build things from scratch. Today, I stare at my editor—and ChatGPT stares back.
The Rise of the Machines (In My Workflow)
AI didn’t just assist my workflow—it took over it. What started as a helpful little sidekick for debugging soon became the architect, planner, and even the copywriter for my commits.
Want to center a div?
“Hey ChatGPT, give me a Tailwind class to center this.”
Need to write a CRUD API?
“Write me an Express.js API with MongoDB and JWT auth.”
Stuck on a bug?
“Here’s the error log, now fix it.”
And it works. Every time. Which is great… until you realize your brain hasn't written a loop by hand in weeks.
Muscle Memory, Replaced by Muscle Query
There’s something oddly dystopian about knowing how to write something but choosing not to. I still understand closures, promises, and debounce functions, but when AI gives me the solution faster than I can type "function", the temptation is too strong.
Code becomes a conversation—not with myself, but with a machine. And somewhere along the way, I forgot how to think through a problem without autocomplete, snippets, or an AI sidekick.
AI Dependency: A Silent Burnout
It’s not burnout in the traditional sense. I’m still shipping features. Still deploying projects. But there's a hollow feeling when you realize you've outsourced your thinking.
The creativity that once came with problem-solving is now often replaced by prompt engineering.
- Less trial-and-error, more copy-paste-and-pray
- Less designing systems, more tweaking what AI gave me
- Less learning, more shortcuts
The Irony: I’m Still More Productive Than Ever
And here’s the twist: despite the mental laziness AI encourages, I’m producing more than I ever have. MVPs get done in a weekend. Client requests are fulfilled in hours. Bugs vanish in minutes.
But is productivity worth the cost of losing that mental spark? That dopamine hit when you finally debug something you fought with for hours?
Rebuilding the Coding Brain
I’m not quitting AI. It’s here to stay. But I’ve started setting small rules for myself:
- Write small components or functions by hand, even if slower
- Explain code to myself before asking AI to fix it
- Use AI as a second opinion, not the first solution
- Block AI tools during “deep work” sessions
TL;DR
AI didn’t kill my coding brain. I let it.
But like muscle memory, I can train it back.
In a world of limitless tools, maybe real craftsmanship is choosing to struggle a little—just enough to keep the mind sharp.
Have you felt the same way?
Let me know on Twitter or try coding something without AI today. Just for the nostalgia.
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