Comprehension Debt: The Hidden Cost of Coding Without Understanding 🇺🇸
Source: Dev.to
Are technologies that generate code our enemies?
The answer is no. Technology exists to help, but the result isn’t always what we expect.
At the end of 2022, ChatGPT was released—one of the most impactful tools since the invention of the internet. Since then, society and software development have changed rapidly. We joined the wave: using AI to solve doubts, generate solutions, and mainly write code.
The shift in technical forums
With this growth, something interesting started to happen. Platforms like Stack Overflow began receiving fewer questions. The pattern shifted: fewer public doubts, more private prompts.
For a senior developer, using a prompt to generate a class can be just a productivity shortcut. But what about a beginner?
If even Linus Torvalds uses AI tools, why couldn’t we?
The difference is a detail that is often ignored: does the beginner understand what the machine is writing?
Comprehension debt
This brings us to the idea of comprehension debt.
- Technical debt comes from technical shortcuts.
- Comprehension debt comes from mental shortcuts.
It is the accumulation of code that works, but no one really understands—not even the person who wrote it. You copy, paste, and adjust… but you don’t understand why.
The result is a false feeling of progress: the task is done, but learning did not happen.
Coding without understanding is like a ship sailing without a compass or a map. It moves, but it doesn’t know where it is going.
It is not bad code; it is ownerless code. AI does not create this problem—it amplifies it. With a single prompt, code appears and the task seems solved, creating a sense of efficiency but shallow learning.
How to know if you are building comprehension debt
Ask yourself:
- Could you implement this feature without using prompts?
- Can you explain what the generated code is doing?
- Are you afraid to change the code without asking AI?
- Do you only test on localhost and hope it works?
If you cannot explain the solution, you probably did not understand the problem. Relying solely on “test and hope” signals something is wrong.
The long‑term cost
Over time, you grow slower, become dependent on tools, and weaken your foundation as a developer. In a job interview without AI, how would you perform? You trade speed today for stagnation tomorrow.
Practical advice: using AI responsibly
- Ask the AI to explain the code it generated.
- Rewrite the solution in your own words.
- Run the program flow in your head.
- Make small changes and observe what happens.
- Try to write first and ask for AI review later.
- Use AI as a copilot, not as the driver.
As a helper tool, AI is amazing—provided you navigate with a map and a compass, not just following the current.