Throughout this course, AI tools have been valuable in helping me learn and comprehend the content of this class. In addition to this, AI tools have helped tremendously with debugging, clarifying on more effective code, and more. Despite the wide range of AI tools available, the main one I utilized was ChatGPT. I was already very familiar with ChatGPT so utilizing it in this class made my learning experience in this class much better. ChatGPT would clarify instructions I didn’t understand, and when errors were detected in my code, it would provide insight to make debugging much simpler. The usage of AI tools improved my experience in this class and served more so as my tutor than a tool with how much insight given to me for different scenarios presented in this class.
During this course despite the use of AI tools, I felt that the most important thing was to make sure every assignment done was with my thinking. Meaning, not to completely rely on AI tools to write all of my code but rather to elevate my original thoughts and help with breaking down instructions.
After going through various WODs throughout this class, I found that going back to previous WODs provided lots of insight to doing future ones. My use of AI tools for WODs was mostly used for breaking down instructions. This was used especially when doing the WOD that contained creating a dropdown menu for a website where I utilized ChatGPT to clarify exactly whats being asked of me along with debugging my code when trying to create the dropdown feature.
For the practice WODs, I would on average never make the target time until the very end when doing my 1st attempts. I would often do at least 2 attempts to meet the target time and because of the target times I would set for myself, usage of AI tools was not very beneficial. The only times I would utilize AI tools for this assignment was for the first attempt when reaching a roadbloack that even the instructions video wouldn’t cover which was very rare.
Again because these WODs were timed, AI tools usage wasn’t very useful for this type of assignment. For this type of assignment I relied heavily on past assignments leading up this WOD and utilized concepts I would keep note of. The use of AI tools for these assignments were for clarifying instructions and debugging my finished code.
All of my essays were written using my thoughts and ideas. I never utilized AI tools for essays since I felt that they wouldn’t benefit me in any way besides brainstorming an intriguing title.
Throughout the final project, I would constantly run into issues with my code so I would turn to ChatGPT to help resolve these issues. In addition to this, I used ChatGPT to help brainstorm and solidify my thoughts for my part of the project so I would have a clear idea on what I wanted to accomplish.
I didn’t see myself using AI tools frequently for learning about new concepts or tutorials since most of the time the source being used would satisfy my needs. However, when I still didn’t understand the concept despite going through the content, then I would turn to AI tools to breakdown what I don’t understand.
I rarely asked questions or answered in Discord so no usage of AI tools was involved for this part.
For smart questions, I rarely used AI tools and all of my work was my thoughts. I would only use AI tools to breakdown the content if needed.
I would use ChatGPT to give examples of good code so I could observe how I could improve my code when compared to “good” code.
ChatGPT was very useful in this aspect when I came across snippets of code I didn’t understand. I would utilize ChatGPT as a tutor in this sense to clarify on my misunderstandings and breaking down the purpose of each line of code.
When writing code, I would often turn to ChatGPT to help with laying out the groundwork for different situations. For example, it would give me new functions to utilize to make coding easier. However, I would still need to tailor the code to my needs which was very helpful in shaving down the time needed for writing code.
Since conversations and prompts are saved in ChatGPT, I would often go back to previous conversations to solidify my knowledge on certain concepts or if I simply forgot something I know was already covered.
When it came to debugging my code, ChatGPT was extremely useful and helped with avoiding most common mistakes along with giving suggestions on what I can do to potentially make my code more “efficient”. By taking these suggestions into consideration, I was able to elevate my coding skills along with writing code taking significantly less time.
When trying to deploy Vercel, I had lots of issues I couldn’t figure out so I turned to ChatGPT to look at the various errors I would get and how to solve them.
AI tools in this class were very helpful when it came to learning concepts and understanding various aspects of this course. I would often be left puzzled or confused when coming across the new topics that would be introduced despite the sources provided. Due to this, I would utilize AI tools such as ChatGPT to breakdown the content to help me understand it better along with clarifying my confusion on different topics. For example, when setting up Vercel I encountered numerous errors that I couldn’t fix. Despite trying various websites, I couldn’t find a solution so I turned to ChatGPT which was able to help me resolve all my errors and get Vercel working. Though ChatGPT can provide assistance with a wide variety of things, it can still provide unhelpful information but, despite that it has overall provided a very positive impact on my learning and understanding of this course.
Though AI tools were very useful for various aspects of this course, it still had flaws. When given prompts sometimes it would provide unhelpful information and I would need to clarify exactly what I was looking for. In addition, not all information given to you is tailor-made for your issues so I would often need to take the information given and figure out how I could utilize it for my issues. For the most part, the main challenge was letting AI tools do too much of the work and finding the correct balance of leveraging it as a learning tool. However, despite the challenges it did provide opportunities for growth, I started specifying exactly what I was looking for and got more adept at relying less on the tool as the course went on.
When comparing traditional teaching methods and AI-enhanced approaches, both style have their advantages along with their disadvantages. Traditional learning such as lectures, walkthroughs, or tutorials, are more hands-on and interactive which helps with providing a strong foundation for key concepts in the course. However, it does have its disadvantages such as the amount of time it may take for each concept along with the potential lack of immediate assistance. This is when AI tools come into play, these tools provide immediate help and provide very insightful assistance when it comes to various concepts. But, there are issues where the information though rare, can be inaccurate or the user could end up relying too heavily on AI tools turning it into a crutch to get through the course. Overall, both have their strengths and weaknesses but, when put together can compliment each other.
When looking towards the future, I do see AI becoming more prominent in everyday life than it is now. As we continue to work on and improve upon AI it will continue to improve not only in quality but the things it can do. But, I don’t see it taking over too much of what humans can do. Instead, I see it improving upon being a “tool” used in society and providing more help then it does today. In addition to the potential benefits, there are the inevitable negative consequences that are possible in the future. For example, as AI continues to improve it will be much better at what it does for future students who may rely on it much more than students do today. In this sense, it may be harder to prevent students from simply copy-pasting or creating work that isn’t based on their ideas. Despite these issues, I do see a brighter future with AI making everyone’s daily lives just a little bit easier.
Looking back on this course, I can confidently say that the usage of AI tools provided a significant impact on my journey throughout this course. AI tools such as ChatGPT taught me various ways to improve upon my skills as a coder while providing significant insight on various concepts I would otherwise not comprehend. In addition to this, I took the challenge of balancing AI tools as a learning tool versus a crutch. This provided significant growth in various areas for me along with helping me develop discipline when establishing the line between learning tool and crutch. Overall, AI tools when used correctly, can enhance a user’s learning experience and provide a long-lasting postive impact on their learning.