I watched a senior developer last week fumble with ChatGPT for twenty minutes.
His prompt? “Write me a React component.”
That’s it. No context. No requirements. No examples.
The AI spat out some generic garbage. He showed it around the office. “See? This stuff doesn’t work. It’s all hype.”
This is the same guy who writes the most toxic code reviews
You know the type. They’ll spend fifteen minutes arguing about semicolons. But completely miss that your function has three different responsibilities and should be split up.
They criticize everything. They help with nothing.
Both behaviors come from the exact same place - pure insecurity.
These developers built their whole identity on writing complex code
When AI can generate something that looks similar, their entire sense of self-worth crumbles. So they sabotage the experiment before it can threaten them.
I’ve never had this problem because I’ve always called myself just “decent” at coding.
Not brilliant. Not a 10x developer. Just decent.
I don’t write code to show off. I write it to solve problems. To build stuff people actually use.
That’s why AI felt natural to me from day one
No ego to protect. No identity crisis when a machine writes clean functions.
The developers who embraced AI fastest? They’re the ones with the smallest egos. They don’t care who writes the code as long as it works.
They’re not afraid to look stupid asking basic questions. They experiment without worrying about their reputation.
If you’re still on the fence about AI, here’s what actually works:
Start by using it like a rubber duck
Don’t ask it to write your entire application. Ask it “What am I missing in this approach?” or “How would you refactor this mess?”
Have a conversation. Treat it like a junior developer who needs clear instructions but has infinite patience.
You don’t need to let AI write all your code. You just need to stop being afraid of it.
The future belongs to developers who can work with AI, not against it.
Your ego isn’t helping anyone build better software.