Using AI to reduce cognitive load is both a gift and a curse. We can use ChatGPT to write essays for us. But the reason why we write essays is because the act

Using AI to reduce cognitive load is both a gift and a curse. We can use ChatGPT to write essays for us. But the reason why we write essays is because the act of writing exercises our critical thinking and communication skills. Offloading that work to AI defeats the purpose. It's like going to the gym and then using a robot to lift the weights for you. The same argument applies to programming. I think the most important skill in programming is the ability to "think in code", i.e. to be able to write, understand, and debug code without any tools other than a plain text editor and a terminal. The only way you build this mental muscle is by doing the reps. The risk of having tools do the work for you is that they ultimately become a crutch. Of course, there are cases where using tools to increase productivity is a net benefit. An expert essayist can potentially use ChatGPT to synthesize information without compromising their thinking process. An expert programmer can potentially use Copilot to automate certain rote programming tasks. I just think we should be careful not to use tools in a way that compromises our basic mastery and foundational knowledge in a given field.