AI is Not Here to Replace You—It's Here to Multiply You

In the early days of calculators, many people resisted them. “Real mathematicians don’t need calculators,” they said. Today, nobody blinks when a top engineer uses a calculator, spreadsheet, or simulation software. Why? Because we’ve collectively realized something powerful: tools don’t replace expertise—they elevate it.

The same is happening in software development today with AI.

Tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and ChatGPT are not coming for your job. They’re coming for your inefficiencies. They’re the calculators of this era—helping you solve problems faster, freeing you from repetitive tasks, and letting you focus on what actually requires your brain.

The best developers tomorrow won’t be the ones who write the most code. They’ll be the ones who ship the smartest, cleanest solutions the fastest.

AI is not a threat to craftsmanship. It’s a power-up for those who know how to wield it. And to make that point, let me tell you a story...

The Math Genius Who Didn’t Know How to Use a Calculator

I used to teach a friend of mine mathematics. He was brilliant—quick to grasp concepts and eager to go deeper. Eventually, he became so good that in certain topics, he even surpassed my own understanding. But something strange kept happening: every time he wrote a math test, he came home with a poor score.

There were times I would look through his test paper and immediately know, "This is something he should've scored 100 on." So one day, I asked him, “What’s going on? Why are you underperforming?”
His answer? “Time wasn’t on my side.”

Curious, I asked him to walk me through how he approached some of the questions. That’s when I made a surprising discovery—he was spending 5 to 10 minutes solving an objective question that should have taken under a minute with a calculator.

So I stopped him mid-way and asked him to solve that question using a calculator.
His response?
“How do I do that?”

It turns out he didn’t even know how to solve a simultaneous equation using a calculator. This meant that while he was good at math, he was doing things manually that could have been automated, wasting precious time and ultimately trailing behind peers who were less skilled but better equipped.

Many Developers Today Are Just Like My Friend

You might be great at coding. You might know your frameworks inside-out. But if you're still solving every bug, writing every unit test, and searching Stack Overflow line-by-line—you’re like my friend: brilliant, but slowed down by doing everything manually.

We’re no longer in an era where being good is enough. You have to be fast, efficient, and smart with your tools.

Embrace the AI "Calculator" for Coding

Just like a calculator changed the game for students solving complex equations, modern AI-enhanced tools like Cursor, GitHub Copilot, CodeWhisperer, and Tabnine are reshaping the software development landscape. These tools aren't here to replace a developer’s skill—they're here to amplify it.

Cursor, for instance, acts like an intelligent coding companion inside your IDE. It suggests completions, writes functions, auto-generates test cases, and even helps debug issues. It’s like having a pair programmer that doesn’t sleep—one with access to the world’s documentation and best practices.

Developers who ignore these tools are essentially refusing to use a calculator in a timed exam.

In today’s environment, knowing how to build is just the beginning—knowing how to build faster and smarter is what sets you apart.

It’s Not “Cheating.” It’s Strategy.

There’s a belief among some developers that relying on AI means you’re “cheating” or not “truly coding.” But that’s like saying you’re not good at math because you use a calculator for complex equations. Nobody questions the intelligence of a financial analyst using Excel, or a designer using Figma.

Tools don’t make you less of a developer—they make you a better one. They unlock your creativity, help you prototype faster, and free your time to focus on higher-level thinking instead of boilerplate.

Conclusion

Don't let your brilliance be buried under unnecessary manual effort.
If you’re good at what you do, prove it by getting things done faster.
Don’t be the math genius who failed the test because he didn’t know how to use a calculator.