I Lost an Argument with AI — What It Taught Me
ChatGPT has become my go-to for coding questions.
I had a question about JavaScript and wasn’t sure about the best approach.
I ended up blogging about the results in a post about using a loading indicator to improve User Experience.
I asked ChatGPT for advice, but I didn’t agree with the answer. I thought it was a hallucination to point that I replied “I don’t understand, or disagree, with {your answer}. Please confirm or re-explain.”
Yet, it still gave the same answer. So, I tried Gemini — and still got the same response.
Looking back, I’m pretty sure I was wrong; so I ended up using the suggestions from AI. I was happy to learn something new.
I read somewhere that AI can produce 89% accuracy when it comes to coding issues. Until that reaches 100%, I’m not worried about AI replacing humans when it comes to writing code.
Lessons Learned
- Stay Open to Being Wrong: I’m pretty confident in many areas of coding, but I had a feeling my approach could have been better. After asking for help, I feel my code is now more efficient.
- Get Multiple Opinions: Unhappy with the initial response, I got a second opinion (albeit also AI). Cross-referencing information is a good habit- whether dealing with AI or other humans.
- AI is a Tool, Not a Replacement: Humans make mistakes, and so does AI. We can’t fully rely on AI… at least not yet. But we can collaborate with AI to come up with the best solution possible.
ChatGPT’s Thoughts
I copied the article above (up to the 3 dots preceding this section), into ChatGPT and asked “What do you, as AI, think of this article?”
The response was a generic “{you did a good job},” but it suggested I provide this final sentence, which I felt was relevant enough to include:
“This experience reminded me that AI isn’t just a tool for getting answers — it’s a tool for challenging my own assumptions.”
