I remember doing homework in middle school. We were all required to go to the library or use books as references because the internet was not credible enough to convince middle school teachers that you didn’t make up the things in your homework. Yet, there I was literally putting “Google” as a source in one of my assignments, not my brightest moment. Everybody was encouraged not to trust the internet, as it was very easy to gather information from there, and it was definitely considered cheating to use the internet to do your work. Now we're facing a similar moment with AI, and the same old question keeps popping up: Is embracing new technology a form of cheating?
Remember when smartphones first came out? Some people swore they'd never need one. Fast forward to today, and even your grandmother is probably sending emoji-filled texts. Every wave of technology, personal computers, the internet, and now AI, has faced skepticism. But history shows that resistance often turns into reliance. Would you call someone a cheater for using Google Maps instead of paper maps? Of course not, it’s just a better tool. Yet, some people take pride in saying, 'I didn't use AI for this,' as if rejecting technology makes their work more authentic. But does writing a novel by hand make it more meaningful than typing it on a computer? Does a digital artist lose talent by using Photoshop instead of paint? Authenticity isn’t about rejecting tools. It’s about how you use them.
When I started learning to code with AI, people told me it wasn’t ‘real coding’, that I was just being lazy. But I see a difference between being lazy and working smart. I didn’t want to manually track my portfolio, so I built an automation system instead. Ironically, it took more time to create than doing it manually, but now it saves me hours. I didn’t want to do that manually because I’m lazy, but not lazy enough to avoid working smart.
Using AI to speed up coding by automating boilerplate tasks or to improve your writing by suggesting better word choices isn't laziness; it's efficiency. It is “using” your lazy side to get things done. The key is maintaining your core skills while letting AI handle the tedious parts. You're still the driver; AI is just a really smart dashboard. This is just preference, but doing tedious labor does not make your work more authentic or inherently better.
As AI continues to evolve, those who reject it out of fear or pride -scratch that, arrogance- may find themselves left behind. Innovation doesn’t make you less skilled; it makes you more efficient. So eat that frog, push your boundaries, and automate the boring stuff. The real question isn’t whether you should use AI, it’s why you wouldn’t.
I asked ChatGPT to write a Haiku about this topic. Here it is:
Modern tools guide us
Lazy minds craft pure brilliance
Tech breathes life anew
Let me know if this works for you!
Cheers, Berkem