Is it valid to learn by asking lots of questions to an A.I?
Posted by Rich-Cap-4831@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 37 comments
So, basically my focus is the backend. I know the basics/early intermediate of programming overall.
I know a bit about some data structures (singly/doubly linked lists, stacks. I didn't learn graphs, trees, etc yet though).
I know a bit about some algorithms (searching and sorting).
But I procrastinated a lot while I was studying it (years), so I barely made any real projects (websites/mobiles apps). Most of the projects I have were made for the CS50x course.
So like 95% of all the projects I made were not websites with CRUD, databases and stuff. I mostly studied computing concepts (I find them really interesting), and struggle a lot trying to understand web frameworks, especially because they have lots of abstractions, the directory architecture is huge. All of this makes me get lost.
Now the major problem. I have to help a colleague make a project, but since I wasted so much time instead of building projects to learn, I have a huge insecurity and am using A.I to make it.
I'm not just telling it to make stuff and copy pasting it. I usually ask questions like "Why did you add this function right here?", "What exactly is this function doing?", "Shouldn't this behave differently?", etc. But what if I'm not learning at all? I'm afraid...
divad1196@reddit
DK effect, dual burden part: you don't have the skills yet to know if what you are learning is correct.
It's very easy to feel that you understand something, even if it's wrong.
And I know a few people that read all there was to read about programming, never wrote a single line and felt stuck.
The answer to all of it is practice and experimentation (scientifi method). But do it yourself, not asking AI how to do it. When someone explains something, even when tey are human, define a way to check if that's correct and then do the test. If you cannot define a test, then you are lacking prior knowledges.
Hot_Pomegranate_0019@reddit
Yes — it’s valid to learn by asking Ai questions. what you’re doing (asking why, how, what if) is actually active learning, not just copying.
you’ll learn if you: try things yourself before asking understand and re-explain the answers implement and modify the code on your own
Ai should act like a guide or reviewer, not a replacement for building. the real learning comes when you apply what you learn in your own projects end-to-end.
your fear is normal, but if you can explain and rebuild what you use, you are learning.
maxpowerAU@reddit
That’s fine, if your AI is good enough. Remember when they’re wrong they still answer confidently.
But you don’t properly learn something until you do it. Remember to try out the stuff you are hearing about by actually typing it into a project and running it and fixing the bugs.
HippoLongjumping2988@reddit
The asking questions part is actually good approach but you need to make mistakes yourself too. When AI gives you code try breaking it on purpose or changing small things to see what happens
I used to collect old programming manuals and the best ones always had exercises where you had to debug broken code. Same principle applies here - take AI suggestions and mess with them until you understand why they work
Rich-Cap-4831@reddit (OP)
Do you think it's ok to deliver the job tasks now with help of AI and after it's done I go back to try and do it from scratch by myself just to learn?
MineralDragon@reddit
Are you actually going to go back to learn? If this is for an actual job delivering job tasks should take precedence but I would be wary of the very real risk of pushing tasks to completion without understanding how they function. I assume you would be held accountable for any failures/issues.
Rich-Cap-4831@reddit (OP)
I don't intend to just copy paste code, but I do intend to use it heavily to like reviewing and giving suggestions to speed up while trying to absorb it.
I really want to deepen my knowledge on it, I'm now reviewing everything through videos and stuff to try to do it "by hand" as much as I can.
It's just the deadline that kinda puts pressure on me...
MineralDragon@reddit
Which LLM service are you using?
Rich-Cap-4831@reddit (OP)
I'm currently using free gpt...
SourceScope@reddit
Ive asked it to explain small code snippets that feature words i havent seen before
Like in swift you can “guard” which i was familar with, but one place i saw “defer” which i had to get explained, it did and i googled further to get confirmation, of course
Rich-Cap-4831@reddit (OP)
I see.
I'm aware of the famous a.i hallucinations, but I forget that sometimes and just rely on what it answered me... I should indeed confirm its claims through other sources
VibrantGypsyDildo@reddit
Knowledge is independent of the source of knowledge.
Ram_1405@reddit
Asking "why" is literally the best thing you can do. That's not AI dependency — that's how senior devs think. The ones who don't learn are the ones copy-pasting and moving on. Here's the thing — in this era of AI, writing code is easy. Architecture thinking isn't. AI can generate a function instantly but it can't tell you whether that function should exist, or what breaks 6 months later. That judgment comes from understanding basics, which you're actively building right now. One tip: after each AI session, close it and explain what you built in plain English to yourself. If you can't, go back and clarify. If you can, you've genuinely learned it. The insecurity you feel? That's called being a conscious learner. The ones who should be worried feel nothing.
Rich-Cap-4831@reddit (OP)
Thank you so much bro.
I usually try to learn things in "the old fashion". But now I have a responsibility for something that I do not have a complete domain over, and it made me get desperate.
It's me wanting to learn how things really work and how to build software myself + me wanting to finish tasks I don't know much about that were assigned to me before the deadline
Ram_1405@reddit
That tension between truly understanding vs delivering on deadline — every dev faces it, even experienced ones. Use AI to deliver now, go back and rebuild it yourself after the deadline. That's when real learning happens.
mahdi_habibi@reddit
First of all, you already had a great start. CS50 is great!
Generally, you either have a project with a deadline so you use AI to finish faster, or you are trying to learn something and you have time so you avoid AI to actually learn. This is an annoying tradeoff we all deal with these days.
I'm assuming your goal is to learn. So about your question, it depends on what you ask it. "Why did you add this function right here?", for example raises some concerns for me about why the AI has written the function instead of you in the first place.
For me the sane way to learn is to definitely turn the copilot off and keep the chat usage minimal to 0. I'd encourage you to stop using any AI when learning, I'm pretty sure you won't miss anything. But if you insist, you should at least have some practice time with 0 AI.
Rich-Cap-4831@reddit (OP)
I see. Thanks.
I mean, I almost never use A.I when learning, I always try to search for answers on stack overflow and stuff, and when I do use it, it's usually to just ask questions about something I myself wrote, or something I really don't have any idea how to do and want some small start and explanation.
But recently I have this project that hasn't started yet, but it has to be finished within a deadline (not yet defined), and it's making me really nervous and for the first time I'm actively using A.I, but I feel bad and try to do what I can myself and ask stuff the A.I itself wrote.
It's a mix of wanting to learn without it with """needing""" it to finish something fast and feeling guilty in the process
Sad-Dirt-1660@reddit
do the opposite: prompt them to ask you questions on the topic youre learning, then check ur answer with more credible sources.
Rich-Cap-4831@reddit (OP)
That seems great
AdmirableBoat7273@reddit
Yes. AI is really good at summarizing general sentiment. It excels at explaining basic programing ideas and example code as well as helping you modify it. Sometimes it is really dumb, but generally it can be a great tool. That being said, programming textbooks are very useful for having a step by step learning process that builds logically. I would use AI as a tutor if I was working now, but also be sure to actually test each part, and not rely on the AI code to just work.
FeralWookie@reddit
I like asking the AI questions about aspects of new tech I don't understand. I like trying to explain my reasoning and see if it thinks my understanding sounds complete.
But of course you still need to build stuff.
PhilsPhoreskinn@reddit
I’d rather you ask AI than reddit bro these kinds of ppl will lead you astray
catecholaminergic@reddit
Treat it as an idiot who lies but has a great memory and has read everything.
jowco@reddit
It's best to learn by reading documents of the original topics you're looking to learn. AI has gaps and is based on what it's seen consistently. It's a good helper, but you should seek out information.
beautifulhell@reddit
This. AI is basically a man in the middle between you and official documentation, a glorified Ctrl-F; except sometimes it just makes up BS because it’s programmed to sound confident.
If you really feel like you need AI to understand concepts, use it with a grain of salt, and always verify by looking at official documentation.
PooningDalton@reddit
Best way to learn is make projects of your own. Nothing wrong with asking AI questions as long as you're building it yourself and understand how its working.
beddavpan@reddit
I think it’s fine as long as the AI gives you accurate information. It’s pretty much like learning by asking someone with more experience.
monopoly-surreal@reddit
I think it's valid. Try do the thing yourself, then ask AI to review what you did and give suggestions. Use it like a personal tutor.
Rich-Cap-4831@reddit (OP)
I'm thinking of doing it
Typical_Hypocrite@reddit
Yes but be warned it at times only knows as much as you do. When learning angular I had this problem because it still acts like its angular 18/19 so it gives you old info unless you start talking about valid current info THEN it will be a bit more helpful (hint: a bit). I used it after the basic crud tutorials to learn asp.net & ef core though so it seems like it’s more knowledgeable on C#. Idk about Java.
When learning focus on this path: Basic crud DTOs & services One to many & many to many relationships / data modeling DTOs and services for those one to many and many to many relationships
In other words:
After you can build a basic CRUD app by memory move the logic into a service for the controller. Then shape the data in your services with DTOs. After that look up popular ERDs on Google so you can include relationships on your backend api. Learn why it’s modeled the way it is. Then learn how the relationships change your dtos and services for your controllers. All of this CAN be done using AI. I did it with the free version of chat gpt for asp.net (I did watch crud videos from freecodecamp on YouTube as a base)
Rich-Cap-4831@reddit (OP)
I see, thank you bro
oandroido@reddit
Yes.
HasFiveVowels@reddit
For real. What kind of a question is this? "Is it valid to learn by…". Yes. You don’t learn STEM by accepting ideas on the basis of the source’s authority.
mrheosuper@reddit
To me, you only learn when you can apply what you learn.
Raman-2122@reddit
You need to build something from scratch without AI at first you’ll struggle but the more websites you visit(without ai) you’ll get better. A lot of people use AI when they’re basics aren’t strong and when they go to create something from scratch they become rlly dependent on AI which is dangerous
skibbin@reddit
The previous way to do this was to read the manual, or look on StackOverflow. I think asking AI questions is a great way to learn.
Successful-Escape-74@reddit
Hell no! Unless the AI agent provides you source information and you read the source information to validate what AI is teaching you.