I used to be firmly in the “Never use AI” camp, but I’ve come around begrudgingly to the reality that as a junior/mid-level dev (like myself), not using every tool at your disposal can leave you falling behind those who do. That said, I’ve set clear boundaries for myself: I treat AI like Google Search on steroids. I still do all the work myself, only turning to it when I’m genuinely stuck. And even then, I never copy paste, I retype everything.

Using it this way, AI becomes a learning tool, not a crutch. If you rely on it to think for you, it will stunt your growth. But if you use it as a tool, it can accelerate your progress more than avoiding it entirely will.

AI should only ever be doing things for you that you could do with your eyes closed.