Another Rule for Using AI Without Losing My Skills
26 Jan 2026 #codingWhen code breaks, you can’t simply say, “AI did that.”
You’re responsible for the code you ship. That’s been true from the days of copy-pasting from forums, blog posts, StackOverflow, and now from AI.
AI is fast, but over-reliance makes you lose your mental models and context—just one problem with AI.
The new rule
To protect my skills, I’ve set one rule: Don’t let AI touch your code directly. It might feel unproductive. But it keeps my hands on the wheel.
To test this rule, I recently tried finishing a task using as much AI as possible. While going through the AI-generated code, I came up with another rule:
If I write the code, AI reviews it. And if AI generates the code, I review it.
That way, I use AI while keeping my code writing and reading sharp. Either way, AI is just like a copilot in the cockpit, an extra layer of safety and productivity.
AI is changing the act of coding. Some brag about coding without typing a single line of code, thanks to Claude Code. Whether what AI generates is clean code or garbage, its CEOs aren’t accountable for it. We are.
If you want to sharpen the skills AI can’t replace, check out Street-Smart Coding. It’s the guide I wish I’d had on my journey to becoming a senior coder.