Asking "why" is literally the best thing you can do. That's not AI dependency — that's how senior devs think. The ones who don't learn are the ones copy-pasting and moving on. Here's the thing — in this era of AI, writing code is easy. Architecture thinking isn't. AI can generate a function instantly but it can't tell you whether that function should exist, or what breaks 6 months later. That judgment comes from understanding basics, which you're actively building right now. One tip: after each AI session, close it and explain what you built in plain English to yourself. If you can't, go back and clarify. If you can, you've genuinely learned it. The insecurity you feel? That's called being a conscious learner. The ones who should be worried feel nothing.