AzamSharp
Is AI Making Developers Forget How to Think?
What happens to your body if you stop exercising for a while? It starts to deteriorate.
I learned this the hard way.
After a 6–8 month gap from lifting weights, I went back thinking I could just pick up where I left off. I could still lift heavy, but my body was not ready. Within a few days, I ended up sick. My body was basically shocked.
The same thing happened with indoor bouldering.
When I was consistent, I could comfortably climb V5 routes. After taking a few months off, I came back and struggled with V2 and V3. My grip strength was gone, and I couldn’t even remember the beta for routes I had done before.
Programming works the same way.
Programming is not like learning how to ride a bike. It requires constant practice, or you will forget how to think.
If you don’t practice thinking, you lose it. Not immediately, but gradually. The part of your brain that solves problems, connects ideas, and reasons through challenges starts getting weaker.
And this is where AI becomes dangerous.
Not because it is bad, but because it is too convenient.
If every time you face a problem, you immediately reach for AI and copy the solution, you skip the most important part of learning. You skip the struggle. You skip the thinking.
That is the part that actually builds skill.
I use AI every single day. I am not against it at all. It is an incredible tool.
But I treat it as a reference and a teacher, not as a replacement for my thinking.
If you are going to use AI, slow down a bit. Read the code. Understand why it works. Ask questions. Break it apart.
Because if you don’t, you are not getting better. You are just getting faster at copying.
And over time, that catches up with you.
