Comment by contractorwolf | Hacker News Reader

Comment by contractorwolf | Hacker News Reader

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To all those devs saying "i tried it and it wasnt perfect the first time, so I gave up", I am reminded of something my father used to say: "A bad carpenter blames his tools"

So AI not going to answer your question right on its first attempt in many cases. It is forced to make a lot of assumptions based on the limited info you gave it, some of those may not match your individual case. Learn to prompt better and it will work better for you. It is a skill, just like everything else in life.

Imagine going into a job today and saying "i tried google but it didnt give me what I was looking for as the first result, so I dont use google anymore". I just wouldnt hire a dev that couldnt learn to use AI as a tool to get there job done 10x faster. If that is your attitude, 2026 might really be a wake-up call for your new life.

One of the reasons SO works is that the correct or best answer tends to move toward the top of the list. AI struggles to do this reliably - and so its closer to SO where the answers are randomly selected and you have to try a few to get the one that's correct.

Also, I bet your father imagined the carpenter's toolbox full of well accepted useful tools. For many of us, non-bad carpenters, AI hasn't made the cut yet.

All I am saying is that if you are expecting it to fail for you, that is absolutely what it will do. You weren't good at typing on your first day either. I went from a decent engineer with 20 years experience to a 10x engineer able to take on any problem, in less than a year. All because I learned how to use the tool effectively.

Just dont give up, get back on that bike and keep peddling. I promise it will amaze you if you give it a chance.

This is a tool, just like all the other ones you have learned, but it will make you a far better engineer. It can fill all those gaps in your understanding of code. You can ask it all those questions you are unwilling to ask your colleagues, because you think you will sound dumb for not knowing. You can ask it to explain everything again if you still dont get it. It is powerful if you know how to use it.

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