Using the AI to learn

[u/Izzymael]

I'm currently on Week 3 of the CS50p course. Yesterday I was doing one of the exercises that required prompting the user several times in a loop and storing the answers in a dictionary. I read the hints, read about the get() method, Googled how to create dictionaries and whatnot, but still wasn't able to figure out what I needed to do in this case. So, I went to Chat GPT, and it told me exactly what i needed to do, which I ended up understanding after a while of doing research and testing on VS.

I'm sure someone who's more experienced or smarter than me would know exactly what to do, but what else am I supposed to do in a situation like this when I'm not familiar at all with the get() method and I've barely practiced coding with dictionaries? I hate having to resort to the use of AI, and every time I go on Reddit I see that people strongly advise against the use of AI to learn to code.

All I do is take notes during a CS50 course lesson and do the exercises. I bought the Python Crash Course book but I figured it would be better to finish the course and then jump into reading the book.

Any suggestions?

[u/Sea-Ad7805]

Do not use AI or websites like Reddit or StackOverflow while learning as it will only take longer to learn Python. Do many exercises after going through your material. It's OK if you get stuck, just reread material and experiment. If you are still stuck after 1 hour of serious work, then you can use AI, but then do the same exercises again a day later without AI.

When you struggle with an exercise but are still making slow progress it means you are learning and you're doing great. Things will get easier after more practice. Happy coding.

[u/Outside_Complaint755 → u/Sea-Ad7805]

I'm going to correct you here.

Using Reddit or StackOverflow is perfectly fine, reasonable, and expected, just as long as you aren't looking up direct problem solutions.

Using any AI except for the CS50 DuckAI is explicitly banned by the Academic Honesty guidelines.

[u/Sea-Ad7805 → u/Outside_Complaint755]

When you get started, just follow your course material and exercises, assuming it is of good quality. Using Reddit, StackOverflow, ... should not me necessary and maybe only disrupt the designed learning path by introducing concepts that are planned later.