Very well said. And I'm in the same camp. I've very rarely had someone with whom I could interact, bounce off ideas, brainstorm regarding the nitty gritty of code. Most of the time, I've had to dig through books, online articles and create my own mental framework of how things work.

And this has held me up in good stead.

Now with AI, I've found a tool from which I can learn, show me the right way to do things, and explain in detail what has been done. I can ask questions, point out mistakes, go back and forth on different implementations and at the end of it, come out a better programmer.

As many commentators have mentioned, AI means different things to different people. For me, it has been empowering, enlightening, and humbling.

There have always been so many things to learn, but never enough time. Now, it doesn't quite feel that way.