hi everyone, I want to say am a beginner to reactJS because I have completed basic and intermediate ReactJS courses here in codecademy and am currently building projects. the problems is that any time I am stuck, I try to find the solution from Google, and recently, I added AI to it. which makes it easier for me. now, considering my level, is it okay for me to use AI if am stuck? your contributions will be appreciated.
thanks
3 Likes
To me, no, I wouldn’t use Generative AI.
How can you verify it?
It’s not learning and using one’s own cognitive skills or abilities. I think it’s better to find other resources to help learn to code. Whether that be another site, a book, YT video, or official language documentation.
It’s normal to get stuck when learning a new programming language. Learning to think computationally takes time, repetition, writing code, and then breaking it down to understand concepts.
3 Likes
I only use it when I get stuck
Not using Ai these days is like refusing to drive a car or only writing by hand. There’s nothing wrong with walking or with writing with a pen instead of a keyboard, but don’t limit yourself. The ai is not a magic solution but it is a profoundly helpful resource. It can teach you about a ton of stuff. I ask various ai questions constantly every day. They are indispensable for things like clarifying syntax rules brushing up on new or unfamiliar concepts, or setting up tech stacks. They don’t replace critical thinking, they augment it with speed and breadth of knowledge. For basic programming they will help you SO much. Use them if you want to learn things efficiently. They are very valuable tools.
1 Like
To each their own, but those are not the similar comparisons. Characterizing someone as a luddite if they don’t use generative AI is a fallacious argument.
Generally—what critical thinking skills or cognitive thought processes are involved when using gen AI? Further, how can one verify the information one obtains from using it? Again, is that really learning?
There are a ton of negatives with the LLMs behind the algorithms as well. What’s in the LLM? How was the data obtained/is it copy-written material? Not to mention the amount of negative environmental impact it takes to use that type of technology. There’s an excellent paper titled, “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models be Too Big?” that’s well worth a read.
There’s nothing wrong with reading the programming language’s documentation, or sifting through other resources in order to learn. Again, to each their own, but a little background research on gen AI might sway someone to the anti-hype position.
As I mentioned above, it’s totally normal to get stuck and frustrated when learning a new language. I wouldn’t proceed to the next lesson if you don’t understand the concepts presented in the current one. It’s takes time, practice, and repetition to learn the language(s) & become fluent. Keep at it and ask for help here if you ever get stuck. There are a ton of smart people who contribute here in this space who can help you out.
1 Like
I never said anything involving or referring to any religious or civic preference or prejudice, I see what you’re inferring in regards to the comparison, but there’s nothing fallacious about my arguments, these tools are available inclusively to be utilized, and not doing so has a penalty to your efficacy and your potentiality in the context of your rate of learning.
The same concepts of having a discussion with AI and a person apply relatively comparatively. They aren’t “answers in the back of the book” they can and often are wrong or misunderstanding of the total context of your questions, it’s the same principle, so you actively use critical thinking to evaluate to both construe their instructions and apply it to your circumstances as well as to understand the accuracy and relevance of their answers. I never suggested not to talk to people, concerns with educated people in your respective sector are much more valuable and should be utilized as much as possible, but you can have meaningful, valuable conversations with explicit tailored content for your project or theory inquiry in real time and ask individual specific questions directly 24 hours a day 7 days a week, for free or cheaply, on top of those human experts and their consult. Why on Earth would you avoid that? You could take your arguments and apply those to talking to experts easily, what kind of critical thinking skills does it take to parrot the instructions you get from some educated instructor? Like I iterated above, it’s a bit of both everything and nothing. Tools aren’t cheat sheets, they extend your capabilities and the time rates of their application. Not using them is a hindrance. You will get left behind. Just saying. Here’s the most succinct analogy I can think of at the moment. Tutorials are helpful common techniques for learning. Conversations with AI turn tutorials into living dynamic learning spaces where you can ask the specific questions you have and get the context and clarifications you need to progress your learning as you need it. It makes them much more valuable and applicable and relevant. If you have 24 hour access to experts, then by all means ya, why not? I don’t. And most other people don’t either. You don’t have to accept the new reality but to do so is your own inefficient prerogative.
Generative AI cannot think and it’s hardly a form of expertise. It’s a stochastic parrot.
1 Like
I think if you were to use it solely to get the answer straight away, than yes using Generative AI wouldn’t help reinforce those concepts. However, if you can prompt AI correctly to guide you through an issue you have, i believe that to be beneficial. This way when you are really stuck, it’s that little nudge to generate ideas for solutions.
1 Like
