10 Ways New Coders Can Use AI Without Generating Code

24 Mar 2025 #misc

If you don’t know how to code, you shouldn’t rely on AI to generate code.

AI is here to stay. Sure. We can’t ignore it. We have to adapt, like we coders have always done.

But the problem with AI is when we use it to outsource or replace our thinking. If you’re not the one using the tool, you’re becoming the tool. And tools are easy to replace when a faster and better tool appears.

If you’re a new coder, don’t ask AI to generate code for you.

Ask AI to do any of these tasks instead:

1. Review your code
2. Dissect a piece of code
3. Explain difficult concepts
4. Create roadmaps and study guides
5. Act as your debugging rubber duck
6. Generate test cases or sample inputs
7. Learn the most common language features
8. Look for security and performance issues
9. Create questionnaires to evaluate yourself
10. Check your understanding of a difficult concept
11. Translate one piece of code to another language
12. Learn the most common methods from standard libraries

Using AI is like using calculators in math classes. They can make you faster if you know what you’re doing, but they can’t think for you. As I learned from Jim Kwik, the brain coach, “use Artificial Intelligence to extend your Human Intelligence, not to replace it.”