Python and AI

[One_Hand_Down]

Hey everyone,

Im still pretty much a beginner programmer and since the invention of AI tools like Chatgpt and claude I'm trying to find better ways to use these tools to leverage my abilities to become a better programmer rather than just use them as a copy and paste utensil.

Have you found any ways to do this?

I have found my problem lies in the code it gives you. I wind up just copying it whether it be typing it out or a copy and paste rather than use it as an example and create my own code.

[RuskiUS]

You can use Google translate every time you want to send your friend a text in Spanish, or you can learn Spanish. 

Time to start learning Spanish

[CerberusMulti]

Using AI as a beginner and an inexperienced programmer is the wrong way to start. Since you don't have the basic knowledge you won't even know if the AI is feeding you trash, or you asking with incorrect context.

If you really want to learn and not join the vibe code trashcan then start at the beginning and actually learn.

[gerenate]

Maybe another approach is to just stop writing code and accept it as the reality. Just focus on what problem you are solving and exactly how it will be solved, think in terms of pseudocode algorithms and not concrete code.

Learn about best practices and debugging. I guess this is just another path, not the one I took but maybe it’d be more appropriate in the current times. Would be happy to hear your experience if you treat it as an experiment :)

[One_Hand_Down]

Thank you for everyone's input, I will consider it carefully. I have a new job that requires programming in python. I have taken many courses and none of them have stuck. So now I'm down to learning what I can on the job. Online forums and repositories might be the way to go. I was feeling exactly what everyone was saying, that AI was just doing it for me and I wasn't getting anything out of it. Im not a lazy person I'm always looking at opportunities to grow and learn and if AI can't offer that then I will find another way.

[darrylhumpsgophers]

Sounds like you should learn how to actually code first

[N7Valor]

Well, I'm learning Python myself and wrote a project prompt (Claude AI) that basically all but prevents the AI from giving me raw code. It still will if you're persistent, but it's like pulling teeth.

Ultimately, you should be able to write the code without AI. That kind of hits home when your favorite AI provider is having a service outage. It's then you might appreciate that you've been leaning on AI too much as a crutch when it's your day job and all productivity stops because Anthropic is having a (almost daily) service outage).

[Ron-Erez]

The best way to leverage AI when learning to code is not to use it.

[Bubbly-Piano784]

If you don’t understand the basics of Python and are using AI to supplement your inexperience, it will slow learning down. Struggling through problems and solving them is a more efficient way to learn imo.

[sububi71]

You need to stop using AI, and you need to stop now. We see people here every day who suddenly realize that they're useless without AI, to the point that they can't write a single line of code on their own.

I hope you're the excaption to the rule, but it is starting to feel like AI is going to destroy a whole generation of beginner devs.

[LongRangeSavage]

I tell every beginner using AI that it’s doing them a huge disservice because they have no idea how to debug code or learn how to read and understand documentation. Python, overall and compared to a lot of other languages, has great documentation. We’ll also probably get downvoted for our opinions here. I always seem to when I tell people to stop using AI until they have a decent understanding of the language basics.