The One Rule I Follow to Code with AI (Without Losing My Skills)

14 Oct 2025 #coding

I haven’t blindly jumped on the AI hype train. But I’m no hater either.

AI is here to stay. That’s why I’ve tried AI to offload tasks while coding. But after a few weeks, I was so AI dependent I couldn’t write a simple LINQ query. So I decided to stop relying too much on AI and adopted this one rule:

Use AI outside my IDE or editor.

When I’m coding, I like to think I’m a surgeon in an operating room, and AI is my assistant doctor. They hand me tools and monitor my patient, but I’m always in charge.

To stay in control, I never let AI into my editor. I use it in a browser tab.

It might seem slower or old-school. But it forces me to decompose my problem and extract relevant code for AI. And once I have an answer, it forces me to make it work on my side. At least, I know if the output actually works.

Just like code you find on StackOverflow or anywhere else online, don’t use what AI gives you if you don’t understand what it’s doing.

Don’t let AI touch your code directly either.

AI is faster at generating code than us. No doubt! But being a good coder isn’t about typing fast. It’s about estimating, communicating with non-tech people, and many more skills I’ve included in my book, Street-Smart Coding: 30 Ways to Get Better at Coding. That’s the roadmap I wish I had when I was starting out.

Grab your copy of Street-Smart Coding here and start building future-proof coding skills today.