I've been thinking about this a lot lately. There's a real tension between using AI as a learning tool versus using it as a shortcut that quietly hollows out your ability to actually understand something. When I started using AI assistants to help me pick up new technical skills, at first it felt amazing. Instant explanations, code examples, answers to questions I was embarrassed to ask anyone. But after a few months I noticed something uncomfortable. I could get things working without really ...