Research from Anthropic ran a controlled experiment where developers learned a new Python library, some with AI, some without. Those who relied on AI scored 17% lower on conceptual understanding, code reading, and debugging. Not because AI is bad. Because they stopped thinking.
The only participants who used AI and still learned were those who stayed cognitively engaged, asking “why does this work?” instead of “write this for me.”
That is exactly what Holberton trains you to do. No lectures. No spoon-feeding. You hit a wall, you figure it out. You encounter an error, you debug it yourself. You teach a peer, and cement your own understanding in the process.
