Don’t Let AI Think for You: A 4-Step Framework to Become a Better Developer

Hey everyone, so here’s another blog. In this blog, I am going to talk about how I got into the rabbit hole of using AI while making my project, and I was totally not using my thinking ability.

And it was making me dumber, and I started doubting myself: will this make me a good developer?

Then I started thinking, how will I get out of this and rebuild my thinking ability and ability to struggle through the problems and solve them.

So, after asking some good developers and seeing some YouTubers and coding tutors, how they solve problems if they don’t know how to solve them without using AI first.

Basically, how problems were solved when AI was not there, in the pre-AI era.

So, now every time I have any problem, or any feature, or bug I have to solve, I go through these 4 steps one by one, and these steps helped me to build my thinking ability and memory muscle, and helped me know things in a better way.

Let’s see the 4 steps one by one:

1. Stop jumping to AI first

Whenever you go into a problem or any bug or any new feature you want to build, just don’t go to the AI first and type the problem and get the solution.

Instead, go to Google and search about the problem and explore; you can go to Stack Overflow, blogs, and articles, anything which provides the solution or rough idea of the solution.

2. Sit with the problem

After getting the solution from the Stack Overflow or from any other sources like blogs and articles. I know that the solution will not be sufficient or a full solution, and that’s the good thing.

Because now you will try to implement the solution by seeing the solution, which is a sort of solution for your problem, but not specifically for you.

Now try to implement that solution by yourself, break things, build things, understand the core of it.

In other words, just do FAFO.

At least give 1 hour to solve the problem, or you can increase the hours.

Now, if your solution worked, then it’s a WIN, and if not, then do the next step.

3. Learn how to solve the problem from first principles

Go to AI and use this prompt for your solution:

You are my first-principles mentor.

Don't give me the solution immediately. Help me understand the problem from the ground up.

Problem:
[Describe your problem here.]

Respond in this order:

1. Explain what I'm trying to achieve.
2. Identify the fundamental concepts involved.
3. Explain those concepts from first principles.
4. Analyze my specific problem step by step.
5. Ask guiding questions instead of giving the answer.
6. Give hints if needed.
7. Only provide the full solution if I explicitly ask for it.
8. End with the general lesson so I can solve similar problems in the future.

Now understand what AI gives you; it will teach how to solve that problem from first principles without giving the code.

Now understand every line of it and take a pen and diary, and think and try to create the solution and then code it by yourself.

You will find a hard time reading the output of AI, but it will explain things to you very clearly and to the depth of it.

Now, after learning from first principles, if you’ve solved the solution, then it’s a WIN; if not, then do the next step.

4. Use AI, but there’s a catch

Go to the AI and ask for the solution of the problem, and ask for the code.

After that, write the solution by seeing the code; don’t copy it, write it by yourself.

After that, this is a very important step: after that, the code which you’ve written after seeing it from the AI, copy that code and give it to the AI, and write this prompt:

You are my programming mentor.

I'll give you a piece of code. Your job is to teach me how it works from first principles, not just tell me what it does.

Code:
[Paste your code here]

Explain it in this order:

1. What problem this code is solving.
2. The core concepts required to understand it (from first principles).
3. Break the code into logical sections.
4. Explain every line in order:
   * What this line does.
   * Why it's needed.
   * What would happen if it were removed or changed.
   * Any JavaScript/TypeScript/React concept used.
5. Trace the execution flow step by step, showing how the program runs.
6. Explain how each variable changes over time.
7. Point out common beginner misconceptions.
8. End with a simple summary and the key lessons to remember.

Assume I know basic programming but want to deeply understand the code, not memorize it. Avoid skipping details or saying "this is obvious."

After that, learn how the solution works from first principles, and learn how the code is actually solving the problem. Understand every line and function; ask repeated questions if you don’t understand something.

Make sure that you understand everything deeply and clearly.

And then try to implement the solution by yourself without seeing the code.

That’s it; these are the 4 steps.

I know that many people will jump straight to the 4th step because it’s convenient and easy, but trust me, if you are in your learning phase or a beginner, I would suggest you go to the first three steps, because I’ve experienced that, and you can regret it in the long run.

That’s it for this blog; thank you for reading this long.

Till then, Happy Learning :)