If You Can't Direct AI Code Assistants Effectively, You Might Be the Problem

The rise of AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot and AI Cursor IDE has transformed the development landscape. These tools promise to accelerate coding, reduce boilerplate, and help developers be more productive. Yet many developers find themselves frustrated, claiming these tools "don't work" or "generate garbage code." Here's a hard truth: if you consistently struggle to get good results from AI coding assistants, the problem might not be with the AI.

The Skill Behind the Prompt

Using AI coding tools effectively is itself a skill—one that builds upon your existing programming knowledge. When you can't get an AI assistant to generate useful code, it often reveals gaps in your own understanding:

1. Unclear Requirements

AI coding assistants work best when given clear, specific instructions. If you can't articulate exactly what you want the code to do, complete with edge cases and constraints, how can you expect