[keeda]

I maintain that in the future, any person wishing to learn any skill (not just coding!) will need to willingly eschew the use of AI when learning until they have "built the muscles". The literature is clear that repeated, hands-on practice is really the only way to build skills.

I suspect the progression will be "No AI until intuition (whatever that is for that skill)" -> "Gradual use of AI to understand where it falls short" -> "AI native expert".

How to actually implement this at scale is still TBD ;-) Ironically, AI will be invaluable for this e.g. as a hyper-personalized tutor but it will also present an irresistible temptation to offload the hands-on practice. We already have studies indicating the former is helpful but the latter stifles mastery. At this point I can only see self-discipline as a mechanism to willingly avoid AI.

Unfortunately, our testing-oriented education system only serves to incentivize over-reliance on AI (Goodhart's Law etc.) None of our current institutions and processes are suited for what is already happening and will only accelerate from here on. Things will need to change radically.

For this reason, I once predicted apprenticeships will be a thing again, and already there are signs with Microsoft's preceptorship proposal: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3779312

This is highly encouraging because a tech giant is not only acknowledging the problem, but proposing a solution. Not a complete solution by far but at least a start.

[nerdsniper]

I learned Calculus despite having access to Mathematica, TI-89/92/CX-CAS, and WolframAlpha. I still had to do hundreds of derivations and integrations and manual manipulation of separable differential equations entirely by hand to learn it. But these tools made it easier for me to understand what I was doing wrong.

So, I agree with you, but it's also already been true for decades now with other tools.

[array_key_first]

All these tools only replace mechanical aspects, not thinking ones. AI is truly unique and unprecedented in that way.

A spellchecker is purely mechanical, it just helps you spell your essay right. But it won't make your essay good, or help you write the right essay.

[doginasuit]

An apprenticeship is great for all sorts of reasons that AI can never touch, but I don't think abandoning AI will be necessary unless you aren't really motivated by a desire to understand and do the thing you are trying to learn. If you are, it is an incredible tool.

[kazinator]

> The literature is clear that repeated, hands-on practice is really the only way to build skills.

The centuries of literature we have on this contrasts hands-on practice with theory: not actually doing the thing, but studying how other people do it, in order to gain knowledge that will be helpful when you get your hands into it.

This is different: this is like having a slave do it for you.

We know from history that the slave owners didn't know how to do the work. E.g. kings and feudal lords didn't know how to herd animals or raise grains, etc.

[fdgg]

"At this point I can only see self-discipline as a mechanism to willingly avoid AI"

Do you realise how difficult this actually is? Millions of people have zero self-discipline with their consumption of social media.

[gedy]

Proud of my son as he's doing that without any prompting (ba dump tish). When I offered Claude pass, he said "I won't learn anything that way"

[fdgg]

Your kid is gonna do well in life.

[idontwantthis]

I think it all comes down to whether you want to learn something or have something. I can have an app in a few hours just like I can listen to a song on spotify. Or I can learn to code just like I can learn to play piano.