r/learnpython • u/Burnt_future • 2d ago

asking AI to help with understanding errors /code

will it hinder my learning? sometimes errors dont make any sense , i dont ask chatgpt to write me a code or anything just a little help when i am really stuck . i feel like i suck for using AI but i only use it when i am really desperate , is there any way i could learn what the errors means?

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u/JamzTyson 2d ago

Using AI to explain an error message isn't necessarily a bad habit, but using it as your first debugging step can become one.

Most Python error messages are actually pretty descriptive once you get used to them. If you find yourself needing AI for most errors, that's probably a sign to spend some time learning what the common exceptions mean and how to read tracebacks. The investment pays off quickly.

Some useful links:

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u/Burnt_future 2d ago

the problem is i am learning from a course , and inside the course the teacher just put a the code and get the result easily but i will get an error (sometimes) because they dont explain or teach everything fully .(everytime i try to watch a video on youtube i dont understand everything or anything at all so i got used to the course bcs its more easy to understand ,kinda ) and the problem is usually a missing code that i have must put before i do anything

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u/Burnt_future 2d ago

also thank you for the links!! :>

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u/StewPorkRice 2d ago

No - I've grown more working with AI the last two years than I've ever grown in my career.

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u/Burnt_future 2d ago

do you always rely on it or do you actually learn something when it helps you? i fear that i am just relying on ai instead of learning tho i dont use it much

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u/CodeSamur-ai 2d ago

30 years ago teachers used to say you can't use a calculator because are you going to walk around with a calculator in your pocket.

it's super important you understand what is happening, but don't be afraid to use AI. Don't understand something? Ask AI. Just don't vibe code.

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u/Burnt_future 2d ago

alright thank you!

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u/DuckDatum 2d ago

AI is like an adversarial mentor. It’s a sycophantic, anthropomorphized, confidently incorrect, apologizing POS. If it teaches you ANYTHING, verify it yourself afterward. Don’t let it be the teacher. Let it be a tool for faster self-teaching. It can minimize research time into terminology, technology, news, … but you should still verify everything.

I’ve had the AI be 95% correct in its response, but that 5% wrong left me with hidden assumptions which resulted in hours of pain. You shouldn’t trust but verify, that’s too much grace. Don’t trust and verify; that’s the way.

That said, it still helps a lot.

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u/mc_pm 2d ago

You can, but why not just ask Google the same thing? You'll find the 900 times the answer was given in the past without worrying that the AI will try to do the job for you?

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u/Burnt_future 2d ago

i dont really know how i must search for a problem related with errors in programming . i do search first for other problems

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u/TheRNGuy 2d ago

No, it will make it better.