AI helps me code. The real question is how much of a coder am I? I don't copy and paste (anymore), but I understand why senior developers say not to use AI-generated code. My experience with the "Four Card Feature Section" from Front End Mentor highlighted this. Ten months ago, AI suggested using grid-template-areas. It is a valid property and solved my immediate problem. What AI could not provide was the self-awareness of my foundational gaps. Having recently gained access to the premium membership of Front End Mentor, I revisited this project two weeks ago. When I hit a wall, realizing AI's limitations, I decided to reach out to my community on LinkedIn. This outreach led me to an invaluable, now-bookmarked source. I understand why senior developers caution against excessive reliance on AI.

However, AI is not a future job taker, but a great mentor. As a lifelong night owl, the 9-5 learning model does not align with my peak productivity. And this is where AI truly shines for me. Instead of emailing my teacher questions at 2 am, I ask AI. Over the years, I have learned how to write prompts that elicit responses similar to a remarkably patient human mentor. Even when I get super frustrated and demand an answer, I have trained it to guide me to questions to search for on Google. Like humans, AI can mess up. I have seen it hallucinate when asking for highly specific solutions to complex problems. At that point, it usually means I have a knowledge gap, prompting me to return to deep learning. I have sharpened my ability to discern when AI isn't useful in my development process. Learning this limitation is a boon. In a future role, when working with a company's proprietary codebase, I know I will have to find the answer using documentation and insights from my fellow senior developers. As the years progressed, my prompting skills have improved. As a result, AI has become my companion for deep learning. AI guides my question which prompts me to do deep research on my frequent bookmarks MDN Web Docs, Stack Overflow, Google, and FEM Discord. I then return to explain my findings, and AI clears up misconceptions or fine-tunes my thoughts, which I log in my notebook.

I wrote this post in response to a podcast episode from 'HTML All The Things' discussing getting hired in 2025. And I realized I am in a unique position. I am on the ground floor of this technological shift, and AI and I will grow together. Currently, in the tech zeitgeist, vibe coding is all the rage. For the uninitiated, Vibe Coding is a relatively new approach to software development where programmers use natural language prompts to guide AI tools in generating code. And honestly, the concept is fascinating. My new goal is to develop a strong foundation, allowing me to analyze "vibe code" and make it truly robust. So, I see a future with AI. I don't want to fight AI. I want to be its ally. And if you are wondering, yes, I did edit this post with the help of AI. I can send you the prompt I used.

Senior developers, I'm genuinely curious: How are you seeing the role of AI evolve in fostering deep understanding among junior developers? What's your advice on navigating this partnership?