--- title: Is AI ruining my brain? | daily.dev description: A developer who identifies as an AI skeptic reflects on how relying on Cursor and ChatGPT at work has started bleeding into her personal life, catching herself... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/is-ai-ruining-my-brain--hkbqo0rpe twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Is AI ruining my brain? | daily.dev og:description: A developer who identifies as an AI skeptic reflects on how relying on Cursor and ChatGPT at work has started bleeding into her personal life, catching herself... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/is-ai-ruining-my-brain--hkbqo0rpe og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/HKbqO0RPe.png og:image:alt: Is AI ruining my brain? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Is AI ruining my brain? **[thoughbot](https://daily.dev/sources/thoughbot)** · 3 min read · 33 upvotes · 15 comments ## Summary A developer who identifies as an AI skeptic reflects on how relying on Cursor and ChatGPT at work has started bleeding into her personal life, catching herself reaching for AI to fix a knitting mistake instead of working through it herself. She wrestles with whether offloading tedious or unfamiliar problem-solving to AI is eroding her willingness to struggle through hard things, at work and beyond, without reaching a firm conclusion. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@elmarchavez** · 7 upvotes > It is indeed scary to think about it. That's why I make sure I always have daily tasks that does not use any AI at all. It helps me sharpen my brain. Thinking for oneself and getting full accountability to something is getting rarer these days. > > I'm targeting to be that engineer that can defend and solve problems about their work when something goes wrong all of the sudden. **@agustinbarrientos** · 1 upvotes > I think a short struggle window is a useful boundary. Ten focused minutes still exercises the skill before AI enters the picture. It also keeps every stuck moment from becoming a purity test. **@5awtooth** · 0 upvotes > Music playing is one of those things for me, It not only physically rewires the mind but is also purely personal and expressive, allowing pure mental expansion due to its abstract nature. It's used to bring stroke victims back (muscle memory) and I use it to keep my mind sharp while surfing the slop. > > I play saxophone and DJ for fun, but I am also learning the guitar (can play Baby Shark). And I really mean playing something not just passive listening (though is also super helpful, but I would generally avoid AI music, for now). It doesn't need to be hours, or cost lots of money, heck even... **@hxxmz** · 0 upvotes > The realization that using AI at work lowers your patience for friction everywhere else hit home. AI is great for speeding up the boring stuff, but keeping that habit of wrestling with a hard problem on your own is worth protecting. **@andruhudz** · 0 upvotes > Every tools you help your daily routine or just break your base skills which you do not use with AI. It's just dependence on how to use it ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [God Damn AI is making me dumb](https://daily.dev/posts/god-damn-ai-is-making-me-dumb-h3krp9yba) · Hacker News · 3 upvotes · 2 comments - [AI is slowly munching away my passion](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-is-slowly-munching-away-my-passion-ny3obiud2) · Lobsters · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Don't Outsource the Learning](https://daily.dev/posts/don-t-outsource-the-learning-imeraomcp) · Addy Osmani · 266 upvotes · 19 comments - [Meet the developers rejecting AI](https://daily.dev/posts/meet-the-developers-rejecting-ai-mgfmaufls) · LeadDev · 277 upvotes · 77 comments --- Tags: [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity), [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/is-ai-ruining-my-brain--hkbqo0rpe) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Is AI ruining my brain?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/is-ai-ruining-my-brain--hkbqo0rpe","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/is-ai-ruining-my-brain--hkbqo0rpe"},"datePublished":"2026-09-04T00:04:21.367Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:57:09.719Z","description":"A developer who identifies as an AI skeptic reflects on how relying on Cursor and ChatGPT at work has started bleeding into her personal life, catching herself...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d4b81f498c30ba181d005f286371d35b?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d4b81f498c30ba181d005f286371d35b?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"thoughbot","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"thoughbot","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/9fe12feb57f944a29ff63a79e350081a","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/thoughbot"},"commentCount":15,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/is-ai-ruining-my-brain--hkbqo0rpe","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":33},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":15}],"keywords":"productivity,ai-coding","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"thoughbot","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/thoughbot"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Is AI ruining my brain?"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/is-ai-ruining-my-brain--hkbqo0rpe","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"It is indeed scary to think about it. That’s why I make sure I always have daily tasks that does not use any AI at all. It helps me sharpen my brain. Thinking for oneself and getting full accountability to something is getting rarer these days.\nI’m targeting to be that engineer that can defend and solve problems about their work when something goes wrong all of the sudden.","datePublished":"2026-09-05T11:17:13.699Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/HKbqO0RPe#c-XbfWHg1PU","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Elmar Chavez","url":"https://daily.dev/elmarchavez","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--7PjH979T--/f_auto/v1780994221/avatars/avatar_bK85rJb2OXXID2LX2wi5y?_a=BAMAMiWQ0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":7}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"I think a short struggle window is a useful boundary. Ten focused minutes still exercises the skill before AI enters the picture. It also keeps every stuck moment from becoming a purity test.","datePublished":"2026-09-05T19:14:55.348Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/HKbqO0RPe#c-l8zGuGQJS","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Agustin Barrientos","url":"https://daily.dev/agustinbarrientos","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--5ayxQnqn--/f_auto/v1788281802/avatars/avatar_wQYYVe5Tbj0NJ7C7qPoa8?_a=BAMAMicg0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Music playing is one of those things for me, It not only physically rewires the mind but is also purely personal and expressive, allowing pure mental expansion due to its abstract nature. It’s used to bring stroke victims back (muscle memory) and I use it to keep my mind sharp while surfing the slop.\nI play saxophone and DJ for fun, but I am also learning the guitar (can play Baby Shark). And I really mean playing something not just passive listening (though is also super helpful, but I would generally avoid AI music, for now). It doesn’t need to be hours, or cost lots of money, heck even tapping to the beat is a known music therapy exercise and only 15 minutes a day will keep the brain rot away.\nAlso, I just entered the industry (Tech Artist with 12 years Python) but new to Computer Science (kinda…) but I am being pushed to churn out work so fast I barely have time to learn or soak up what I am doing.\nI try to stay hungry and always get multiple perspectives on a thing.","datePublished":"2026-09-11T18:22:24.673Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/HKbqO0RPe#c-U7o833XAu","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"David Clabaugh","url":"https://daily.dev/5awtooth","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/8500545?v=4"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"The realization that using AI at work lowers your patience for friction everywhere else hit home. AI is great for speeding up the boring stuff, but keeping that habit of wrestling with a hard problem on your own is worth protecting.","datePublished":"2026-09-13T10:41:23.578Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/HKbqO0RPe#c-kX7GSYU9X","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Hamza","url":"https://daily.dev/hxxmz","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--mxBWueVg--/f_auto/v1762150940/avatars/avatar_AQ5aEjf6JlGohTnflWBjv?_a=BAMAK+ZW0"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Every tools you help your daily routine or just break your base skills which you do not use with AI. It’s just dependence on how to use it","datePublished":"2026-09-13T19:53:59.302Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/HKbqO0RPe#c-NJjTZ7Btm","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"andru hudz","url":"https://daily.dev/andruhudz","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocL---snYLZfyby0hGSZRNE0HBZxFUaV8F3aRsSy8J8sc6V6Ew=s96-c"}}]} ```