AI For Code Editing: Why I Won't Code Without It

"You work with AI all day? That's weird."

"You won't program without AI assistance? Are you even a real developer?"

I worry I may get these reactions and that people may misunderstand what I mean. They think I'm sitting back while ChatGPT writes my entire codebase, or that I can't code without a crutch. That's not it at all.

The Real Value: Precision Editing

Here's what people miss: AI coding assistants are first and foremost superior text editors.

Even if I write 100% of the code myself - all the design decisions, all the architecture, all the actual logic - the AI assistant is still invaluable. Why? Because programming is fundamentally a text manipulation problem.

What Traditional Editing Looks Like

Say I need to add a new field to a data structure. The traditional workflow:

1. Find the type definition (scroll or search)
2. Add the field to the interface
3. Find all the places that instantiate this type
4. Add the field to each one
5. Find all the destructuring patterns
6. Update each one
7. Find all the database queries
8. Update the schema
9. Update the migrations
10. Update the API responses
11. Update the test fixtures

Each step requires: navigating to a file, finding the exact location, making the edit, checking syntax, repeating. It's death by a thousand clicks.

What AI-Assisted Editing Looks Like

"Add createdAt timestamp field to the User type and update all usages."

Done. Twelve files updated. Every single edit is precise - matching indentation, preserving formatting, correct TypeScript syntax. No hunting, no clicking, no "did I get them all?" anxiety.

The Actual Superpowers

Here's what my AI assistant does that makes it irreplaceable:

1. Multi-File Precision Edits

Want to rename a function and update all 47 call sites across 12 files? With context awareness to handle different import patterns, destructuring, and method calls? Traditional find-and-replace breaks. AI gets it right.

2. Intent-Preserving Transformations

"Make all API error responses consistent with our error handling pattern." It knows the pattern from context, applies it correctly to 30 different endpoints, each with slightly different structures. This would take me hours manually.

3. Surgical Multi-Line Edits

Need to update 40 lines of configuration scattered across a file? Need to change the structure while preserving the values? AI can do this atomically, with perfect precision. No copy-paste errors, no typos, no forgetting one line.

4. Context Switching Elimination

Instead of: "Hmm, what was that function signature? *switches files* Ok, let me check... *switches back* Now where was I?"

It's just: "Add a call to the auth middleware with the right parameters." Done. No context lost.

5. Instant Command Generation

Need a git command? Regex pattern? Shell pipeline? Instead of googling syntax, context-switching to Stack Overflow, remembering flags - I just get the correct command immediately. Every time.

6. Content Editing Precision

This one surprised me. Even editing blog posts in TSX - which is just writing content in a component structure - the AI is faster and more precise than me manually editing. "Add this item to that list." "Move this section after that one." "Link these course mentions." Instant, perfect execution.

The Compound Effect

Each individual edit might only save 30 seconds. But I make hundreds of edits per day. The time savings compound fast:

• No hunting for files and lines
• No syntax checking after every edit
• No "did I get all the imports?" paranoia
• No copy-paste errors
• No context switching to documentation
• No typos in repetitive edits
• No manual indentation fixing

It's not about being lazy. It's about removing friction from the core activity of programming: precisely manipulating text files.

I Still Write All The Code

I make every design decision. I choose every architecture. I understand the business logic and how to make the program actually solve problems. The AI handles syntax details and implementation mechanics - the things I don't need to understand at a character level.

Think of it like this: I'm not a worse driver because I have power steering. I'm not less skilled because I have ABS brakes. The car's assistance doesn't make me incompetent - it makes me more effective.

Same with AI coding assistance. It's not a crutch. It's a better interface.

Why I Won't Go Back

Once you've experienced programming with a precision text manipulation interface, going back feels like handicapping yourself. Imagine being forced to use the internet without search. Technically possible? Sure. Reasonable? Absolutely not.

Even if AI assistants couldn't generate a single line of code - if they could only do precise, context-aware editing - they would still be one of the most valuable programming tool innovations in decades.

That's why I won't code without AI assistance. Not because I can't. Because I've found a fundamentally better way to work.