Using AI is fine. Using it to replace your thinking isn't.
There's a version of AI adoption that looks like efficiency and is actually absence. You've stopped being the person doing the work. You've become the person approving outputs. The strange part is how good it feels while it's happening. The work gets faster, the results look competent, and nobody notices, including you, until the day you need the skill the tool was quietly doing on your behalf.
You've just finished that React tutorial you've been putting off for weeks. The instructor's voice still echoes in your head as you stare at the completed todo app on your screen. You feel accomplished, maybe even a little proud. But then reality hits: without the step-by-step guidance, you're not entirely sure you could build this again from scratch.
Sound familiar?
Here's the uncomfortable truth about tutorials - they're fantastic for introducing concepts, but terrible for building real competence. The knowledge feels solid when you're following along, but it's actually more fragile than you realize. The real learning happens in what you do next.