Programming /ˈprəʊɡramɪŋ/ – the process or activity of writing computer programs. It is an art, a process of expressing one’s thought into reality using the power of computers. Programming is the key to human advancement in the 20th century and beyond. For example, we made global instant online communication possible, sent humans to the moon, gave intelligence to machines, automated industrial manufacturing, and revolusionised research using the power of computers.
After knowing what’s possible, who doesn’t want to learn how to code? However, learning how to code is a tough matter; it truly requires dedication, time, and effort to master the art of programming. With the introduction of generative artificial intelligence (AI), comes a new way of learning; a way not assisted by humans, but assisted by computers themselves. Generative AI, like those of ChatGPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek, are changing the way students learn programming by providing help, explanations, and advice.
One of the hardest parts of programming is fixing errors in your code. While traditionally one must read through material, or ask others for help, now, it is possible for generative AI to analyze code, detect mistakes, and provide intuitive solutions. It is able to detect a wide array of errors such as typos, a mistake in the logic, syntax errors, and many more.
A lot of programmers, especially for those still learning how to code, like to copy and paste code from coding sites such as Stack Overflow to resolve their issues without fully understanding it. This becomes an issue as time goes on, because while yes, the program works, but the one who made it doesn’t even understand how it works. Knowing how it works, is way more important than simply knowing that it works. Using AI Chatbots, we are able to ask the AI to explain the code line by line in a way that is simple and easy to understand, even to newbies. AI Chatbots are particularly good at this, as AI Chatbots run on a thing called Natural Language Processing (NLP) which gives them the ability to understand human and computer language effectively.
Another benefit of Generative AI is that it can also help people from more rural and remote areas with guidance and assistance where access to adequate education may be hard to come by. This makes programming accessible to everyone, and not only to financially able people. With ChatGPT and other chatbots being accessible 24 hours every day with only a couple of instances where the websites are down for maintenance, we won’t have to wait for a certain time where our human mentors are going to be available to help us.
As someone who is also learning how to code, AI chatbots have personally been a massive help in solving any questions or problems I find myself coming across. For example, I did a project involving AI for a presentation for my school’s robotics club, where I decided to create a program that detects and classifies objects in a video. If it weren’t for generative AI, I would’ve taken a lot more time debugging my code, trying to understand it, and reading countless programming forums.
Mistakes in learning are inevitable; necessary, even. However, without feedback from external sources, students might have a hard time learning and reflecting from the mistake. With generative AI, it gives students something they can turn to, someone who wont judge them and will help them effectively, intuitively without asking a single cent in return.
As AI continues to develop in the future, the role it has in education will only continue to increase. Thus, it is important for the generation of today to understand how to utilise it to the max. While yes, there are many side effects of generative AI in education, but it all boils down to self control. One must know that what makes learning work is the process, and not necessarily the result.