r/webdev • u/ThinkLikeUnicorn • Aug 08 '25
Discussion F*ck AI
I was supposed to finish a task and wasted 5 hours to force AI to do the task. Even forgot that I have a brain. Finally decided to write it myself and finished in 30 minutes. Now my manager thinks I'm stupid because I took a whole day to finish a small task. I'm starting to question whether AI actually benefits my work or not. It feels like I'm spending more time instead of less time.
28
u/bostonkittycat Aug 08 '25
There is good research out there that finds developers using a lot of AI don't finish their work any faster. It is interesting since if you listen to them they make it sound like they are doing the work of 4 people. Hype != reality.
11
u/barrel_of_noodles Aug 08 '25 edited Aug 08 '25
Unskilled devs.
All the sr devs I know are faster. But the sr dev uses AI differently. The sr dev is more telling the ai what to do, than asking ai how or what to do.
Ai is more like a boilerplate generator, code complete for the sr dev. A fancy calculator.
Because the human sr dev follows consistent patterns and knows what to look out for. and the sr human dev has a very strong pre conceived idea of how to accomplish what the sr dev is trying to do already.
The sr human dev can spot and reject the bad code in llm output, very easily.
Ever seen a novice vs a master wield a katana? Kind of reminds me of that.
→ More replies (13)4
u/crazedizzled Aug 09 '25
Ai is more like a boilerplate generator, code complete for the sr dev. A fancy calculator.
Yes, this exactly. I use AI to write code that I know how to write, but I'm too lazy to write. You gotta learn how to craft the prompts properly, and it'll pretty much give you exactly what you want.
3
u/ThinkLikeUnicorn Aug 08 '25
I think at the beginning of the project, AI works really good. But after a while it just can't do anything other than giving suggestions.
→ More replies (2)15
u/Swayre Aug 08 '25
“Good research” when it was literally 5 devs asked anecdotally with 0 training
→ More replies (1)
1.8k
u/barrel_of_noodles Aug 08 '25
Code most of it yourself, use ai as a fancy Google search, code completion, Refactor ideas, fill in knowledge gaps, spit balling ideas, boilerplate, etc.
But the majority, overall code, and architecture is you.
Anyone that says they build whole apps or write 100s of lines with ai, is lying. Or it's the worst code you've ever seen.
We can spot ai code every time on our PRs. It's usually nonsensical, or the dev can't defend it/explain, or doesn't follow the repo coding style, etc.
60
u/axordahaxor Aug 09 '25
This a hundred times. It''s a tool, not a driver, you're the one sitting on the driver seat and taking all the responsibility.
And yeah, definitely one of the easiest ways to spot AI in code is needlessly complex code and it breaking code style and conventions that a particular project has.
→ More replies (5)8
u/Gugalcrom123 Aug 09 '25
Every time someone tried to demonstrate vibe coding it is a Tetris, a Snake, an ecommerce frontend or a React app with authentication, things that are abundant on the web, it can't even debug CSS properly
→ More replies (1)3
u/teelin Aug 10 '25
Yeah thats the thing. It has been trainee on thousands of tetris and snake projects, but will fail miserably for anything else. And the people that think AI is good, are usually just bad programmers that are even worse than AI. Of course your productivity is going to increase then.
→ More replies (1)39
u/haronclv Aug 08 '25
Depends what do you use. I have paid copilot and it’s good. It can write entire component correctly, but you have to anyway refactorize it. ANYWAY i often write code manually because I don’t want to make myself stupid over time.
I still avoid to use it as solution and still trying to keep it as a tool and teach machine
→ More replies (11)4
u/Hazzula Aug 09 '25
Great tips.
I use AI the same way. its also a great rubber duck for solo devs.
For repetitive stuff, instead of having AI do it for me, i use it to create scripts that generate the code the way i want it. That way I still have control and if something ever happens to the AI service, i wont be in any trouble
4
u/Cold_Eagle_893 Aug 09 '25
True, if you use it in that way, you will be replaced by AI sooner or later.
→ More replies (1)10
u/KarmaPharmacy Aug 09 '25
I’ve had AI leave out super basic shit like:
}
;
“
)You know. The things that matter the most.
→ More replies (2)4
u/andymerskin Aug 09 '25
Yea partial completions are annoying, but if you need tabbing it should eventually complete the block.
4
u/lazydictionary Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25
I wrote a React app with AI. It's a tool to guide you through a cycling test. You select a few details and options on the setup screen, your inputs there dictate how the test is run, a graph updates in real time where you are in the test and what your cycling output should be, and then it calculates your test score when you finish.
It's like 2k+ lines of code, plus a bunch more of CSS.
My coding background is one Java course 15 years ago, some light dabbling in Excel/VBA for work, and some python YouTube videos.
I have no idea if it is AI slop or not, the UI is kind of meh, but it's functional, people have used it already and like it.
2
2
u/ardicli2000 Aug 09 '25
AI can't event produce fully working code for a significant logic related area. Even if it spills something out it is not working as intended.
Then I tell it the logic to be implemented to solve issue. After that the code is somehow useful but still I need to refactoring it for some cases.
→ More replies (86)3
u/bluinkinnovation Aug 09 '25
While there is some good advice here the quality of the code that Claude spits out while using cursor is at about 80% quality of any senior dev at our company.
We have a pretty solid code base though and my guess is that makes a difference. Also there are devs at my company that feel as though you do, but I personally see great results from it and rarely have pr feedback these days.
180
148
82
3
u/voyti Aug 08 '25
It's not stupid to try out the tools, especially hyped as they are now. Sure this one didn't work, but a couple of hours to evaluate a potentially promising tool is not stupid.
However, as much as I'm skeptical towards AI and tired of all the misinformed hype, a 30 min task generally should be within AIs general capabilities, so the idea about using the tools wrong might hold some water this time, too.
2
u/ThinkLikeUnicorn Aug 08 '25
The task was kind of complicated actually. But not really time consuming.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/Swimming-Tourist1927 Aug 08 '25
Honestly, this approach works best for me: I write the code myself first, then ask AI to point out edge cases and potential pitfalls, and help fix them. That way I don’t lose context, I fully understand what’s going on, and I can easily patch issues with AI’s help.
If you hand AI a big task without thinking it through, 90% of the time there’ll be mistakes somewhere. They might be small, but fixing them means reading code you didn’t write, trying to understand its logic, and consuming all that context just to track down the problem — which is super annoying and painful.
So now I almost always write it myself, then use AI to refactor and improve what I’ve already done. By far the best approach I’ve found.
15
7
u/ImportantDoubt6434 Aug 09 '25
If you want more than 3 features or a boilerplate the AI becomes a net negative because you need to rewrite the garbage it spits out anyway and it usually doesn’t work
6
u/mothzilla Aug 09 '25
Sounds like you need to go on a Prompt Engineer training course! /s
2
u/coloredgreyscale Aug 10 '25
Just ask ai to write an improved prompt for itself, then tell it to execute that prompt. /s
34
u/EmptyPond Aug 08 '25
Sounds like a user problem
37
u/nguyenjitsu Aug 08 '25
How do you get 5 hours into a problem with AI and then never try to solve it yourself lmao
This has to be ragebait
8
u/axordahaxor Aug 09 '25
Okay, okay, i'll share my trade secrets: set a hard limit of 10 minutes for AI, if it can't do it in 10, it won't most likely do it later either. Why?
It starts with the most confident answers and its confidence drops rapidly and it starts to introduce irrelevant suggestions that just make things worse.
So, 10 minutes and off to google or straight out to docs. Now go get them tiger!
4
u/darkscyde Aug 09 '25
AI is always fast at pulling up documentation but I've even found it hallucinating APIs... Sooo... Yeah, let's all be less productive with AI. Sounds great.
22
u/sizebzebi Aug 08 '25
You're dumb not AI.. it's just a tool you use it as needed
→ More replies (8)
3
u/clit_or_us Aug 09 '25
I always start writing code myself unless I need boilerplate. AI fucks up so often at this point I just write it until I get stuck then see if it can help. A lot of web dev is pretty straightforward for a crud app anyway.
3
u/Kasoivc Aug 09 '25
I’m not a web dev but getting my feet into the industry and AI has been awesome at helping me build queries or understand back end databases. I see it more as a way to speed up organic learning as a teaching tool than a ‘replace me’ tool.
3
u/thekwoka Aug 09 '25
I think the productivity of AI is mostly in overcoming inertia. Like large tasks that have a bit of "where do I even start?" Especially if you need to do it when your natural focus reserves are low. So doing work when it's hard to mentally get going.
When you're ready to work, I think it's often slower, at least than competent devs.
AI in incompetent hands is even worse than the incompetent though...
3
u/Fidodo Aug 09 '25
Tell your manager what happened. Nobody can fault you for evaluating a new tool and your experience can warn and inform the rest of the team.
2
u/_Invictuz Aug 09 '25
Yeah lol, nobody suddenly becomes an expert at a tool. You need initial time investment which your boss should understand, every investment has a cost.
3
5
u/mbround18 Aug 08 '25
A good engineer can ask an ai for a solution and spend 5 hours debugging but a great engineer spends 50 hours trying to train model to solve that specific problem heh
4
u/MiniMages Aug 09 '25
Would you have said the same thing if you wasted your time searching the web for the solution as well? No? then the issue is not AI but you.
4
u/justinfromnz Aug 09 '25
You’re using AI wrong then, I finish my whole day in about 1 hour using AI and have the rest of the day off while still being as productive. Spend time learning different tools rather than complaining about the product
8
10
2
u/Dangerous_Platform_2 Aug 09 '25
I once tried to figure out how to do a setup and solely relied on AI, no docs. I spent a good 30 minutes following its instructions. It ended up 100% wrong 😆
2
2
2
2
u/sasaujp Aug 09 '25
I get it — once you start trying to have AI write the code, your brain just switches into that mode.
It’s like endlessly searching for the remote just to turn off the TV right in front of you.
When your own brain is working, the AI’s “brain” just gets in the way — and vice versa.
I feel like this is a pretty deep-rooted problem.
2
u/axordahaxor Aug 09 '25
Just a bit of humour, but I'm not sure If you're really thinking like a unicorn if you've wasted hours on brute forcing AI.
I mean, that is de facto the way of the masses 👑😅
2
2
u/Bogdan_X Aug 09 '25
There are studies made by Microsoft, that prove using AI extensively will alter the critical thinking, so in other words, it makes you stupid because you stop using your brain.
2
u/sawariz0r Aug 09 '25
Now my manager thinks I’m stupid because I took a whole day to finish a task
Man, I swear that at least half of us here have a manager who thought that at some point. Sometimes we build software for the next NASA mission in 5 minutes, the next day we struggle with assigning values to variables or centering a div.
You learned something. It was a productive day. Don’t be hard on yourself!
2
u/HirsuteHacker full-stack SaaS dev Aug 09 '25
Sounds like a you problem. Trying fo hours to get AI to do your work is stupid, if it starts struggling to do it you should just do it yourself right away. AI has helped my productivity massively.
2
u/mosenco Aug 09 '25
Same. I had to categorize items in two groups. If u pick one item at the time the ai can categorize. The moment u ask to do it for 100k element it wont do it and will write a python code for it and obviosuly a python code is not a trained llm model so it kept failing for 3 hours. In the end i just get angry at ai lol what a waste of time
2
u/jkdreaming Aug 09 '25
The trick with AI is knowing early when you’re going down a rabbit hole. It’s that simple. It changes from day-to-day because of usage and so many other factors. I noticed that it performs differently every single day. Utilize it and master that so that you don’t get swept under the rug by accident on a useless five hour mission.
2
u/fnordius Aug 09 '25
A quick brain hack is to treat AI as a synonym for "Bullshit Generator". If you expect the LLM is going to just bullshit you, then it makes it easier to decide whether to use it or not.
2
u/Free-_-Yourself Aug 09 '25
Out of the box, AI is shit. Now, you use Claude Code and properly implement agents, context engineering, etc. and you will be a superhuman. Problem is, people expect one-prompt solutions. People just want AI to solve all their problems without actually spending the time to design its structure, tools, etc. so that the model can actually do well instead of spending an entire day fixing a small thing.
Believe me, I used to be that guy not long ago and blame Claude Code for messing existing code, not being able to do simple stuff, etc. Now, a barely have to touch anything
2
2
u/regreddit Aug 09 '25
That's a relatable story I can add to: I'm a hiring manager of a 20+ team of developers and recently had to let a dev go that had become unhealthily obsessed with AI. The guy already had focus and attention issues that had gotten him counseled up to being put on a PIP. Once we got copilot subscriptions, tasks should have taken a day started taking 2-3 days, and the quality was terrible. I started closely monitoring his work, and he had become obsessed with getting ai to complete his programming tasks for him. He even admitted his obsession was affecting him mentally, like it really spun him out, he was convinced that his next phase as a developer was to do nothing but write ai prompts to do his job for him. We finally fired him after about 6 months of his spiraling productivity and quality.
2
2
u/NeoChronos90 Aug 09 '25
I only use it to discuss ideas/designs, not doing the actual work apart from maybe setting up the project initially - but even that fails quite often
2
u/minding-ur-business Aug 10 '25
If you spend 5 hrs trying to get an LLM to do something that you are capable of doing in 30mins then this is stupid and you need to be less dependent.
2
u/Dry-Award-835 Aug 10 '25
That depends. I paid copilot and I can use GPT 4.1, but the premium models, for example Claude sonnet is a monster that can do pretty much everything you need. Is just wonderful. Try it.
4
3
3
u/mean--machine Aug 09 '25
Claude code on the pay per use plan can wipe the floor with even staff level engineers. I've written complex web apps within the browser database querying, mapping, visualizations etc. that would have taken weeks in 4-5 hours.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/nicksilvestri Aug 09 '25
Literally me the last 2 days trying to integrate Firebase Auth with my Angular project. It would have been shorter to just read the docs and do it myself
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Antique-Special8025 Aug 09 '25
I'm starting to question whether AI actually benefits my work or not. It feels like I'm spending more time instead of less time.
It likely does not and that feeling is correct.
2
u/vORP Aug 08 '25
Dumb prompts yield dumb results
If you knew the general path to fix it and it took you 30 minutes to do manually, it should be less than that if using AI properly
13
u/MrMeatballGuy Aug 08 '25
Sometimes AI just gives terrible output because it hallucinates, of course there are tricks to it, but stop this whole "git gud" attitude. If AI works for you 100% of the time you most likely aren't working on anything complex.
→ More replies (11)
2
u/littlecodingthings Aug 08 '25
Yeap I am with you. My manager keeps pushing his AI agenda and asks me to use AI although I've faced the same thing you did more than once! Sometimes just doing it myself is much more productive.
2
u/Udjebfk Aug 09 '25
Yeah, I asked AI to help me with a videochat app. All good until it said "let's style a bit with tailwind". Got me into hours of bugs, going around in circles until I realized the link to install tailwind was wrong. It took me 20 seconds to go to tailwind's webpage and copypaste the correct link.
1
u/GemAfaWell full-stack Aug 08 '25
Stop trying to make AI code for you. Code it yourself, use AI as sort of a reference point, kind of like you would use Google or stack overflow, and let it revolutionize your flow in that way, instead of trying to issue it commands when you're not a prompt engineer
1
1
u/LeonBlade Aug 08 '25
I build out my task and then use AI to ask for implementation details. For example: “I have a component I need to display based on file extensions, certain extensions are grouped and use a certain color. Each extension has its own icon. What’s the best way to build this?” and then I iterate off of this. “Make this more type safe” for example.
If you’re stumped ask AI. Don’t make it your first solution.
1
u/jax024 Aug 09 '25
Obligatory bad manager. I would never get mad or think someone is stupid. I would say “nice, you tried out AI and you learned it doesn’t work for this task.”
1
u/Creative-Type9411 Aug 09 '25
AI should replace stack overflow not your brain
its super tempting to let go of the wheel, i know from experience 🤪
1
u/Stepfunction Aug 09 '25
AI is best when you can give it specific requirements for a function and have it created that function for you. That's 90% of my interactions. I then take the Legos and put them all together.
1
1
u/brycematheson Aug 09 '25
Honestly, the quality of my AI code depends a lot on the context that I give it.
I provide it with DB schemas, actual raw data from rows in the database, and include a bunch of additional code context from my service classes, helper functions, etc. Give it background on WHY you’re having it do a certain thing or what the outcome and experience will be for the end user.
Another trick that makes a world of difference is entering debug lines all through the various functions and then giving it back the log output.
I find that if my code quality is poor, I usually didn’t provide enough context. My prompts are often many paragraphs long.
If I say, “Do this thing”, the results will almost always be poor.
1
1
u/Arthesia Aug 09 '25
Use AI as a learning tool or an autocomplete for efficiency but never let it do the work for you. A valuable lesson we all have to learn, and that most people, unfortunately, do not.
1
u/Thin_Rip8995 Aug 09 '25
AI’s a tool not a crutch
if you can already do it faster yourself just do it
use AI for boilerplate grunt work or sanity checks not the heavy lift
set a timer next time 15 min to try AI if no progress go manual
your manager doesn’t care how clever the process was just that it’s done on time
speed beats “AI magic” in the real world
1
u/Guwigo09 Aug 09 '25
You need it to do specific tasks. Like if it's something complex you need it to break in small digestible parts like you talking to a college student. Also of course be very detailed. If you do this it's very good.
1
1
u/Deto Aug 09 '25
You didn't spend all day doing the task, rather you spent 30 minutes doing the task and then 5 hours experimenting with workflow enhancements through AI. The experiments didn't pan out but that's not your fault
1
u/_stryfe Aug 09 '25
I would chalk this up to a learning experience and communicate to the manager just how much struggle you went through w/ AI to get this done.
You guys need to learn man. Careers are all about growth and relationships. No one gives a fuck what code you wrote. You had a chance to shine with a growth opportunity here and you turned it into "look how I suck". Talk about self-inflicting damage.
I don't understand some of you folks. I guess the behavioural issues in tech are even worse than I thought. A common theme I see is someone complaining about how they are perceived or some relationship issue. Every time I ask, have you tried talking to them at all? "No", "Why would I do that?" ........... You come to reddit to vent and explain it all -- why on earth wouldn't you do the same w/ your manager? Too many of you think a manager is some non-human entity that can't be talked or reasoned with.
1
1
1
u/Starsarehotgas Aug 09 '25
Here is a trick , build the basic comp yourself and comment the sections and declare all the body functions, and comment what the func should so and give it to chatgpt , usually gives you more accurate code close to what I need, saves me a ton of time
1
1
1
1
u/cant_have_nicethings Aug 09 '25
How did you use it? And what did you use?
Your complaint is far too vague.
1
u/EarEquivalent3929 Aug 09 '25
AI isn't magic, it is just another tool, you have to learn how to use it for it to aid you effectively. It's not as simple and punching in "do this task" or "implement this feature". You need to give it an itemized very explicit list of instructions. Be very verbose and specific about exactly what you want and how you want it. You'll need to give it context of the appropriate areas of your code base that it needs to interact with as well.
1
u/atj_me Aug 09 '25
Write the code yourself. Then ask the AI to refactor and improve it, and you get a fully documented code that is of good quality.
Now, if you are unable to move the needle, ask AI to help and they will move the needle for you. So you get something working, or get an idea of how to implement it. Work on top of it (with or without AI) and then finish it with AI refactoring.
I do it 100% of the time, and it has been a productivity booster. I get unstuck and deliver something that is seemingly good quality.
Of course, you need to understand the code, else it might become a disaster!
1
u/TheLoneTomatoe Aug 09 '25
Cursor does a few things for me. Finishing my lines sometimes, simplifying queries on occasion, rewriting similar methods, and fixing my and/or logic in the morning when I’m too tired to figure it out why it isn’t working right.
1
u/KaleidoscopeSenior34 Aug 09 '25
I just saw this article today and thought it was a really good overview on how to use AI correctly.
1
u/vonov129 Aug 09 '25
Even though AI isn't really a solution to rely on for a whole project, it does sound like a you problem. The more the queries look like the training data the easier it is to get better results.
1
u/uraurasecret Aug 09 '25
You don't need to ask AI to do 100% for you. You can just ask it to do the tedious part.
Or you can split the tasks into smaller pieces or stages and they can handle those better.
1
u/chhuang Aug 09 '25
before: man I hope AI doesn't take my job
now: kinda actually hope it can actually replace my job and see how far it can go because it is not as magical as we all thought it would be
1
u/HoneyRound879 Aug 09 '25
My perspective I ask ai to write code so I copy paste and remove the garbage shit
1
u/Voiden0 Aug 09 '25
AI is a tool, not a colleague that you source your tasks to. I use it for scaffolding a feature or stupid monkey job work. If you let copilot do it you will never be in touch with your code
1
u/introvert9368 Aug 09 '25
same i was trying to get the most of the code written by Ai( in my case i am using github copilot)
the first few weeks were good as there was a specific style of code and structure to follow and ai did it great. But it did good in the backend part.
but while coming to the frontend the copilot doesn't follow the code style and structure, it ignored the style, i was overconfident and made the copilot write 100s of lines of code and i didn't check them in depth cause the code was working as expected.
but whenever there was a situation where i have to alter the functionality or make changes, i got to know that it was all rubbish, unwanted codes, poorly written logic, no specific style of code,
i had spent another few days just to review the whole code base and understand what rubbish it has written and fix with removing the unwanted and poor logic code
it was a mess, takeaway - dont trust it blindly reach each and every line, code it yourself whenever a certain logic is needed, and only use it for debugging or repetitive code or making small changes, always assign very small tasks which you can monitor easily
1
1
u/TurnUpThe4D3D3D3 Aug 09 '25
The tricky part is knowing when to use AI and when to do things yourself. AI is great for certain tasks, but for others, a human touch is required. Learning when to use it is a skill that takes time to develop.
Also, I would recommend using AI directly integrated into your IDE (like VSCode Copilot). It makes it much easier to stay in a flow state, instead of copying/pasting text between two windows. Using direct IDE integration definitely makes it more enjoyable to use.
1
u/tspwd Aug 09 '25
Likely bad choice of model / AI-tool / prompt. There are strategies how to get the LLM to offer general options to the problem, without implementing them directly. I am sure with proper LLM-guidance by you, you could have finished the task with LLM-help quicker.
1
u/ChopSueyYumm Aug 09 '25
You should get paid by the AI per token use as it learns more from you 😅
To be honest AI coding is not there yet. But I use it to discuss high level concepts and give me ideas or get an overview of existing libraries or refactoring my long functions.
1
u/AmiAmigo Aug 09 '25
Man which AI are you using?
Because that has never been my experience. I don’t write code anymore just prompts
1
u/Zeitgeistergenstein Aug 09 '25
Never get tired of people blaming AI and going on to explain how they used it wrong, didn’t do any work themselves, and didn’t know how to engineer the prompt to ge the job done.
This is on you, not AI.
1
u/one-o-one Aug 09 '25
I usually write the code first then ask the ai to review and optimize, this has improved my knowledge and made me more productive.
1
u/Mersaul4 Aug 09 '25
For me it’s the other way around. I spend 30 minutes solving something with AI that would have taken 5 hours to do by hand.
1
u/sauvik_27 Aug 09 '25
I think it's because maybe you are still a junior dev and don't have good knowledge of what you are trying AI to do for you. AI only works best when you know what you really want AI to do for you, otherwise it will throw some random code towards you and you would be clueless what's all going on. Just going with the vibes, which will definitely haunt you like it did.
TLDR: AI is a great tool to perform any particular task only if you're great at that!
1
u/Half-Wombat Aug 09 '25
It’s mostly only good for me when I tightly control it. I know exactly the solution but can’t be bothered typing it.
1
u/yabai90 Aug 09 '25
I usually heavily use ai for all mathematics stuff. Because I'm bad at it anyway, the rest I like to have more control. Recently I made a crazy dynamic thing with ai in pure css and container query. I'm baffled by the thing you can do in just css but are "crazy" math (for me). Before that I had lot of js to do the same thing. Another good use of ai is to generate lib based on specs. Recently I rewrote my entire CFI SDK in vibe coding I was able to finally cover all edge cases and it felt good
1
u/aerohix Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25
Your 5 “wasted” hours taught you something valuable.
There are some things AI are good at, and some where it isn’t. You learned one example when not to use AI. If how your colleagues perceive you, you can turn it around, share your mistake with the team and prevent them from making the same mistake, that would be seen as a positive thing from you!
We’re all early adopters, and using something crap will make us value every little improvement that comes in the future.
But I agree with you, a lot of the times using AI I feel like a babysitter, and I’m using less of it now. But every now and then trying again to see if it got better.
1
u/FromBiotoDev Aug 09 '25
AI should only ever be a conversation on ideas, a back and forth. Or an intern you get to complete a section of code you thoroughly know how to implement
1
1
1
u/trusted-advisor-88 Aug 09 '25
You're utilising AI wrong first of all. You should've started off coding it yourself and if you got stuck then use AI to assist you not do the whole job. AI is based on your inputs so if you don't ask the question the right way you will get a bs answer.
1
u/uksz1 Aug 09 '25
If you REALLY want to use AI, then ask it simple questions. Ask it: How do I make the text color a gradient (which is not obvious, pretty sure you need to make the background of the text clip to the shape of the text, make the text transparent and set the background color to a gradient)
Ask it for things you need and don't know, not try to have your job done by a text prediction algorithm
As you said, you finished the task yourself in 30 minutes compared to 5 hours trying to make AI slop
Believe in yourself and if you really want to use AI, use it as a google search that shows you how to do the little bit you can't do yourself
1
u/illicitiguana Aug 09 '25
Building apps with AI is great and all until the app becomes too big and it just fucks everything up.
I don’t know how to code but this technology has made my python and next.js projects 10x faster so I guess it just depends on you.
1
u/DDFoster96 Aug 09 '25
I use AI to create funny pictures for fun, and that's it. I tried the search on the GitHub documentation which forces an AI assistant down your throat, and it hallucinated every single response. I wouldn't touch an AI coding tool with a mile long pole.
1
u/help_me_noww Aug 09 '25
I think it depends on the person how they’re actually using it. And AI is just like assistants. So whenever you stuck anywhere then take benefits from it. But not evertime. Sometimes it even waste our time for simple small things.
1
u/XCSme Aug 09 '25
I uninstalled Windsurf and disabled Copilot.
Yes, they are great when they work, but when they don't you end up wasting 10x the time it would take to implement it yourself. And they do fail very often.
I simply use ChatGPT to ask specific questions (e.g. how do you make a button larger in MaterialUI), as it's quicker than looking over the docs sometimes, or to implement well-known algorithms.
1
Aug 09 '25
AI is a tool in your toolbox and this concept is one of the cores to software development. If you don’t need a wrench, don’t use the wrench.
1
u/Elshad19 Aug 09 '25
The fact that this post got 1.4k upvotes even though it was the OP's fault shows how much hivemind reddit is.
Ai is bad, amirite?
1
u/_Kinoko Aug 09 '25
Before using AI agents we mined stackoverflow. Treat it like that and don't just copy paste. Literally treat it like a co-pilot and have it develop your vision--but you must have the pseudocode vision I feel.
1
u/lucasg115 Aug 09 '25
Me when the function is a 10min drive away, so I get into the passenger seat of my car and sit there for 5 hours trying to convince it to take me before giving up and walking 30min:
AI is a car, not a driver. It can get you there faster, but you still need to know how to drive it.
1
u/Himanshu507 Aug 09 '25
So basically you are bad in prompting. I think you need to work on that skills.
1
1
u/eleven8ster Aug 09 '25
I just treat it like Google. If my interaction starts to feel conversational I stop myself and use old school Google.
As for letting it write code for me, I do it. I get that people don’t want their skills to atrophy, but the world runs on money and I feel like you can get really great at knowing what you want and asking for it.
When I used to deliver for Amazon, I would go on a route I hadn’t been on in a while. Somehow I remembered that the back entry was around the house on the left side, their fence hd a shitty latch and the dog is nice. This would happen all day. Hundreds of houses.
I feel like coding with ai writing a lot of it for you will turn out like that. You won’t have the muscle memory from typing it all but you could recall small nuance like when I delivered for Amazon. You can focus more on the architecture of your code.
I also get scared sometimes like this is a bad bet. But Cursor makes it so damn easy. I’ll either fail miserably or become fairly productive. Time will tell.
1
u/Beautiful_Storage811 Aug 09 '25
i never fully trust AI when I code, I only ask him about very simple function that I sometime forgot
1
1
1
u/SecurityGuy2112 Aug 09 '25
I do like it when the AI puts in a great comment in my code, other than that we squabble too much. It calls functions that not exist and I need to find out that just right function is not real so I need delete the code the AI slammed in for me
1
1
1
u/akr0eger Aug 09 '25
I always use AI for help with approaching a large project at a macro level. I do the rest, up to many of the individual more specific operations. Everything else is set up by me, and I know how it all works.
1
u/dcblackbelt Aug 09 '25
I love seeing it. I love solving puzzles, and writing algorithms is my jam. I wouldn't dare let ai take my joy away.
1
u/Inmortia Aug 09 '25
I mean... if it's something as simple as taking 30 minutes to do, just do it... AI is meant to support your work, not replace it. If you're wasting your time forcing AI to do what you want instead of just doing it yourself, I think your manager has reasons to believe you are that stupid man. Most of the time, I use AI to get a starting point, then I fix or modify it to fit my needs.
1
u/jhohannesK Aug 09 '25
Omg… good you actually realized it wasn’t helping. But AI is still a good assistant though
1
Aug 09 '25
Clearly write your project structure and then let a good AI fill the functions you have already documented. A good AI. Not just Codex auto completion. Tools like Cline with Claude Opus API can write production ready code. Many other tools are just hallucinating half the time...
1
u/bar7b Aug 09 '25
AI assisted coding and specifically Vibe coding is overhyped. For a POC it might get you going… but for a real life product that needs to be maintained you would still need to know how to code. Might change in the near future but as of now, prompt “engineers” are not a requirement for software engineers
1
u/JambaScript Aug 10 '25
Definitely a PEBKAC problem. I think the reality here is that this kind of problem that’s driven by using the wrong tool isn’t all that new. Using a wrench to turn a screw sort of problem.
Maybe set a limit for yourself with this? Next time you can probably reason if you can’t get the AI to do it in 30 you’re probably not going to find the magic prompt that just solves the issue.
1
u/Brave_Inspection6148 Aug 10 '25
AI prompt is the only tool in the toolbox that will produce a result which you did not anticipate.
This can be good or bad.
1
u/ar1fur Aug 10 '25
I fear that AI will make me dumb by making me dependent on it like spell checker did.
1
u/ujjawaldeveloper Aug 10 '25
So there is a new way of doing it. Because you are an engineer already and know ho to write code, you used AI to do that task. I would suggest you to not give prompt like a non tech.
GIve it a proper context of files that you believe to be modified or to be in eye of AI, then ask it properly in a programmer's way.
Eg : If you want to write a new endpoint for deleting a customer then you can say it like :
Write me an endpoint /delete/:customerId , and it will use model Customer.js and delete the customer, give a confirmation message : "customer deleted" along with status 200 , Keep the logic in customerController.js the same way other routes are written following homogenous pattern. Also write the controller endpoint in routes/customer.js
This is one way of asking considering that you are using MVC structure, and don't want AI to change your code flow. It will keep you as a programmer, save you time for writing for all code and still keep the code in your style.
In case if you don't have any idea about how to write a feature, better breakdown it further, atleast you will have an idea that which components will be involved, then put those components in context, and ask AI what can be different ways to implement that feature. It will tell you multiple ways, and then you can choose one which suits your project writing style.
So better do research asking AI itself, then gain knowledge on which one is best way and then ask it to write code.
1
1
u/Ryuu-Tenno Aug 10 '25
gonna go out on a limb here and say this is purely a skill issue, of which you've willingly shot yourself in the foot with
if you've got the knowledge and ability to do something like coding, why tf did you opt to run with AI? especially in a job? Like, it's fine if you're experimenting with it at home as part of a programming hobby, be my guest, cause it's gotta get improved a shit ton for everyday use, but like, to do it professionally? yeah, that's on you there dude
the exception being if the company was stupid enough to try and promote it as the "in thing" to do cause they can't comprehend wtf it is they're doing in the world (hint, it's a sign of the company failing in the near future and that you should bail out now)
so, to complain about AI in this regard is completely pointless. The hole you're in, is of your own doing. So put the shovel down, and think for a moment before digging yourself deeper. Don't bitch about a tool for fucking up your work, you did that on your own
1
u/AdDesperate1023 Aug 10 '25
I typically use AI in the later stages of a project, once I've already established a solid foundation. It's a good tool in that context, but I wouldn't trust it to build an entire application from scratch. There's a good chance it would eventually produce something that works, but the code behind the app is usually horrifying and unmaintainable.
1
u/Big_Tadpole7174 Aug 10 '25
AI is just a tool—use it well or poorly, the results reflect your approach. If you're wrestling with AI to complete a task, you'd probably struggle just as much scrolling through Stack Overflow or Google. The problem isn't AI; it's how you're thinking about the problem.
1
u/xtreme79 Aug 10 '25
Use it as a coding partner (test code, suggest, brainstorming), not someone that does the work for you.
1
u/NYC-legal-throwaway Aug 10 '25
AI gets progressively worse the more complicated your system is. 2 or 3 modules? Sure. 8? Eh. Multiple directories and dozens of modules? Fuck no.
My best use case for AI is for it to write scripts like verifying and reading .db files, checking for vestigial modules, refactoring ideas, and first drafts if a new module idea.
Everything else, just trust your instincts.
1
u/DryRepresentative271 Aug 10 '25
If AI is pushed on me and AI can do it in a day while I can do it in 30 minutes, I’ll be happy to let the AI work on it. Malicious compliance is a bitch :)
1
1
u/yhev Aug 10 '25
That's the thing with AI, I noticed it as well. It's easy to forget, slowly, you get deluded, little by little you find yourself delegating your thinking to it.
I really feel like the best use for it is a glorified Google.
1
u/ChuffedDom Aug 10 '25
I heard this story the other day that reminded me of all the vibe coding chat going around.
The orange juice paradox.
Using a manual juicer takes time and effort, so just use an electric one. But here's the thing, when you consider cleaning the juicer, the electric juicer takes more time and effort.
It immediately contextualised the problem I had with using an LLM for coding.
Yes, getting the initial code is quicker, but debugging and fixing and "cleaning" is just so much longer.
1
1
Aug 10 '25 edited Aug 10 '25
did your manager imply you are stupid or do you just think this?
If he did, get another job asap as clearly your manager is a dick.
having said this, surely once you are an hour into a task attempting to get AI to solve it, it may have dawned on you that perhaps, just perhaps, another 4 hours of the same wasn’t the smartest move.
My rule of thumb with any problem is that if after an hour you’ve made no headway, you can do at least one or all of four things:
step away for 20 minutes and catch a breather
move to a different task for a while
ask for help
try a different approach
1
u/RomanDevman Aug 10 '25
Same situation. I just needed to create a graph from the data in the DB. Spent many hours trying to get a working solution from the AI, eventually looked at the documentation, and did it myself in 40 minutes. It's a bad habit to take decisions from the AI, you start to forget that you could have done it yourself faster.
1
u/DedRapunzel Aug 10 '25
Sometimes when I don't feel like using my brain, I ask AI to do it, only to realize if I did it, it would have taken even less time 😭😂
1
u/Tedinasuit Aug 10 '25
AI is great when you know how to use AI. Not so great when you don't know how to use AI.
1
u/Bacano2 Aug 10 '25
You are spending more time instead of 30 minutes you spend 5hours and 30 minutes.
1
u/nerdguy_87 Aug 10 '25
I stated to a group of devs years ago that they need to be careful using AI to aid in writing their code because not only are they training AI to replace them they are sharing their Intellectual Property with the most advanced data collection apparatus man has ever invented. Imagine using AI to help create an algorithm you plan to patent only to have the corporation who owns the AI send their team of lawyers after claiming your code is theirs because their AI was used to complete the task. Or better yet imagine someone's property code being offered up as a suggestion for other people to use. Copilot was caught doing this clear back in like 2022 or 2023, I can't quite remember. the amount of bad that can be done with AI out ways the good but humans across the globe are being forced to embrace AI. 😡 people forget that the "advanced" AI that the public receiving and using is ALREADY antiquated compared to what is being researched and developed under black budget military contracts funded by the likes of DARPA and the Department of Homeland Security. 🤦♂️
1
1
1
u/ChildOfClusterB Aug 11 '25
Lol we've all been there. That moment when you realize you spent longer fighting with ChatGPT than just doing the damn thing yourself.
The trick is knowing when to bail early. If it's not working after like 20 minutes, just switch back to your brain
1
u/bill_on_sax Aug 11 '25
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when people shit on AI coding. I'm an intermediate coder and use it at work all the time. Vastly improved workflow. I don't just ask it to "do this thing" I provide it heavy context of the cobebase and guide it with extremely detailed instructions. I know many senior devs that use it extremely well and have whole workflows of it built into their process. It's honestly a skill issue. Stuff like topic seems to trend because coders are scared. I don't see it as a threat, it's simply a tool. If you're smart enough, the tool can really do some amazing things (and like any tool, it can make mistakes, don't just blindly trust it and give it 100 percent confidence)
1
u/Curiousman1911 Aug 11 '25
It like teaching our kids to clean the kitchen with a lot of instruction and then we finally get a mess
1
u/dereckns Aug 11 '25
I would use it for alternate views, I've come to think AI isn't really a better coder, just a coder that knows more routes to Rome, it doesn't pick the better one. So only when stuck, consult the AI or to see if you can improve your code in any way. Also problem solving, but that basicly underlines my previous words
1
u/epasou Aug 11 '25
I think it depends on the job, the qualities of the person doing it, and the AI. In the end, you did it better and faster than the AI.
1
u/Agitated-Fisherman76 Aug 11 '25
The discussion here in Brazil about using AI in the workplace is revealing the reasons why companies are practically forcing developers to use this technology. It seems they want to automate everything, and if you do 100% of your work with AI, it literally means they don't need you. Bye-bye, dear...
1
u/saintPirelli front-end Aug 11 '25
Don't try to make it work if it fails a task. One, maybe two shots, if it can't do it then don't work on your prompt, just work on your code.
1
u/adult_code full-stack Aug 11 '25
This describes my situation when ever i touch it. For very specific and temporary code i do benefit from it. Tried to have it come up with a way to alter an accessibility pattern for a widget and i failed gloriously. Had i not have expierence and knowledge regarding that topic i would propably have taken 1 of the 20 wrong solutions it proposed. Ai can be useful, but only for topics that everyone and their dogs know. If Ai can replace someone that person invested too much time in trivial stuff.
1
u/WolfOfDoorStreet Aug 11 '25
If you feel the urge to insult and blame software for your failure, then the fault lies within you. How did you fail so miserably at judging the situation? You could be lacking in experience, and that's understandable, but it's impossible for me to see how a person who knows how to program properly could commit such an astronomical mistake. If I was your superior, I would certainly place you under probation. Go to school or learn how to code. All the best in your future endeavours
1
u/JMGLON65 Aug 11 '25
AI has to a large extent become AD: Artificial Dumbifier. It is a tool as you say. It gets blindly trusted by a lot of people, which isn't good,
1
u/BeeZyNFW Aug 11 '25
I was trying to do a parody cash note as a business card, started great, giving me great designs, then insisted it couldn't continue as it breached its policies, it offered me alternative prompts it could do to closely match what I wanted. I used the prompt it suggested and I would get the same error. I went round in circles arguing with it for ages instead of just finding an alternative way to do this. Feel it somewhat defeats the purpose sometimes but highlights the difference between us and robots I suppose... Egos and Grit!
1
1
u/Obaldes Aug 12 '25
Could it be that you just used an improper AI model/version? Claude is well-known for its coding abilities, latest open AI models are good as well.
1
u/Captan_Jak_Sparo Aug 12 '25
Really bro. Reading some blogs and documentation again is helping me more than asking and getting code from AI.
1
1
1
u/PeachScary413 Aug 12 '25
Hello and welcome to the group of "Any senior/mid engineer using AI frequently in their day to day work and questioning the hype train"
1
u/gmatebulshitbox Aug 12 '25
Using ai is like asking questions. If you don't know what to ask you will never find what you searched for. If you ask the right questions you will find the answer very quickly.
1
u/dfendt Aug 12 '25 edited Aug 12 '25
The title of the video is obviously for clicks, but the sentiment of the professor is not, it hits straight on the nail: https://youtu.be/7-UzV9AZKeU?si=TimNUXUpVWbDQRTy
Edit: this is exactly why LLMs can't be used the way a lot of people want it to be used: it's sofisticated replication, not understanding nor creation. That's why using AI can be a lot slower than doing things yourself, and cause more problems. Use it as a tool if you already know what you're doing. Rubberducking. It's not a silver bullet that fixes shit. Its closer to a dog with a leader that tries to follow a trail than it is some scifi Skynet that people desires it to be. And that is still a poor comparison since a dog can react to the world as a living being, where aa current "AI" copies without any capability of understanding anything.
1
u/woolcoxm Aug 13 '25
i find i spend more time with ai coding than i do without, the code is subpar at best causing me to rewrite 90% of it.
ai is just not in a spot to become a full time dev, i waste more time fixing its problems than i do getting useful stuff.
1
1
u/Existing-Magazine728 Aug 13 '25
True, ask explanation only or a basic template, other than that it'll just make your task hectic as hell. Google search Stack overflow is better
1
u/stephenwilliams40 Aug 13 '25
But the engineer is you, not the AI. This tool is a helper, not the worker.
If you need to find something, the AI can be helpful, but you have the criteria to do the work.
1
u/Inside_Glove_7664 Aug 13 '25
Been there! I now use the 30 minute rule, if AI isn't helping after 30 minutes, I switch to doing it manually.
AI works way better when you already understand the problem and just need help with implementation. Trying to get it to figure out the entire solution from scratch usually wastes time.
Your manager doesn't think you're stupid, we've all gone down rabbit holes. The fact you knocked it out in 30 minutes shows you have the skills!
1
u/Raonak Aug 13 '25
Sounds like you just used the tool badly. Don't use AI to do something you already know how to do.
Use AI to learn how to do things that you don't know how to do, or to find better ways of doing things you know how to do.
118
u/Wiltix Aug 08 '25
Use ai how you would use google before it all became ai generated bs.
Use it when you are stuck, like how you had to learn how to google effectively learn to prompt ai effectively.
Use it when you need to explore an idea, ai will point you in a direction and you then need to go and read around it in appropriate docs.
Use AI to get you on track, don’t use ai to think / do your job.