Weekly Report #95 - All AI and No AI

Introduction#

weekly_review_95

This article is a record and reflection on life from 2025-05-05 to 2025-05-12.

This week, I came across some interesting thoughts and discussions about AI Coding, and I would like to share my thoughts based on my own experiences with AI.

All AI and No AI#

AI and Self#

Initially, I saw a rather intense article titled "AI is Making People Unprecedentedly Arrogant", which included several passages ——

ai_ego

While I also feel some aversion towards certain "influencers" who excessively promote AI for their personal marketing purposes, I do not believe that the term "programmer" needs to be deliberately gated to exclude non-professionals or tech enthusiasts.

I was also in a liberal arts major in college, completely unrelated to coding, and even the experience of writing a bubble sort in Python felt wonderful. I still remember the feeling of completing my first project for a company using PHP to create their official website; it was my first work as a programmer. Perhaps it doesn't necessarily compare to what an intern could do now, but it didn't diminish the sense of achievement I gained from it.

I even envy people today who have AI tools like Cursor at their disposal, allowing them to create applications with complexities far beyond their current knowledge base. They may not understand every line of code, but the path from idea to implementation has been greatly shortened, with modular design, models, and requirement adjustments being integrated into the developer's own thinking during the coding process.

Programming is not a symbol of glory that requires immense effort to extract like the Master Sword in Zelda; rather, it is more like the spark of fire Prometheus delivered, not rare, but profoundly transformative to the workings of the world.

ai_renaibao

However, I still hope that, as mentioned in the article "AI Programming vs. Hot Milk", there will be fewer people who have no passion for programming and only see AI programming as a way to gain traffic, thus polluting the industry.

NO AI#

polebug_ai

I have seen and deeply felt the anxiety or panic caused by over-reliance on AI. I currently use two Cursor accounts, one Windsurf, and one v0.dev. These IDEs or tools' Agent modes have become my instinctive response when I want to implement a new feature, and it has been far too long since I relied on search engines and official documentation (except for SwiftUI; there's no choice, the LLMs corpus is too limited).

There is indeed a contradictory feeling; on one hand, I have gained more confidence in the fields and boundaries I can develop, being able to work on front-end, iOS, and even various technology stacks I previously knew little about. On the other hand, my confidence in writing code independently without AI has significantly decreased, along with my ability to think independently.

ai_code_wwwyesterday

I wouldn't say I feel much shame about the code generated by AI; it's just that compared to the code I write myself, it lacks a bit of "realness." However, I believe that with the rapid development of LLMs and better integration into my workflow, this feeling can gradually ease.

Seeing the practice of No AI, I even want to practice All AI in contrast, fully implementing AI in some side projects or personal projects, using AI to fix bugs generated by AI, while exploring workflow optimization myself. I want to see after some time which brings a greater sense of achievement: No AI or All AI; it might be quite interesting.

AI and Thinking Ability#

However, I tend to be conservative regarding non-programming AI practices. I rarely use AI-like search engines and do not often use tools like NotebookLM or Gemini Deep Research to aid my learning.

Indeed, AI has lowered many barriers to knowledge acquisition and learning, but I still do not trust its seemingly well-structured answers or lengthy research in fields I have not explored. If one day I find myself unfamiliar with AI-generated content or completely unable to judge its authenticity, I might worry that I have lost my ability to think.

Programmers are among the most direct beneficiaries of the AI wave. LLMs have significantly changed my work patterns and habits. I occasionally take shortcuts by letting AI summarize or use immersive translation to read English materials, but I still cannot and find it hard to imagine using AI to write my weekly reports or blog posts. Perhaps one day it will do well, but it will lack soul and some subtle "human" touch.

Interesting Things and Items#

Software#

subo_screenshot

I saw CaiCai recommending a subscription management software "Subo" on Twitter. After trying it out, I paid for its multi-currency feature. It helps me organize my various subscriptions/servers; it's user-friendly and well-designed!

Inputs#

Although most interesting inputs are automatically synced in the "Yu's Life" Telegram channel, I still selected a portion to list here, making it feel more like a newsletter.

I built a microblog "daily.pseudoyu.com" using Telegram Channel messages as content sources, making it easier to browse.

Favorites#

Articles#

Open Source and Me: On the Occasion of the First Anniversary, looking back, I really envy those who could engage with/open-source during their student days.
AI Horseless Carriages

Videos#

Series#

The Last of Us Season 2, not a gamer, but I was quite impressed after watching the first season, so I’m following it.