Why AI Coding Assistants Make Poor Mentors, and What's Lost When Struggle Disappears

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A software engineer and former teacher argues that the struggle inherent in learning to code is essential for genuine skill development, not an obstacle to be removed. Drawing on his background in Talmudic study and experience as a bootcamp teaching assistant, he contends that the best mentors use Socratic questioning to guide learners through difficulty rather than handing them answers. He warns that modern LLMs and AI coding assistants tend to be uncritical and compliant, bypassing the cognitive friction that cements deep understanding. This shift, he says, is accelerating faster than the industry is prepared to handle, particularly for new programmers entering the field. The post calls for broader conversation about how to preserve meaningful mentorship practices in an era of readily available AI-generated solutions.

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Machines dominate Bitcoin's OP_RETURN data, outwriting humans 45 to 1

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

TypeScript 6.0 --noEmit Flag Can Cut CI Build Times by Up to 80%

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