Yesterday I did a Python challenge for a job application. The challenge used Python and Django. I hadn't worked with Python in a long time, and honestly, I really liked it. It's a cousin of Ruby's; more than a cousin, I'd say an uncle, and that makes them very similar. The challenge was well thought out and organized. It was an app made just for the challenge, but the idea was to make it feel as close to real work as possible. That's what I liked most: it felt real.
Anyway, what I want to tell you about is that I tried a new way of working. Or maybe I've actually been developing it over the last few years, using AI, obviously, like everyone else.
The thing is, I've been using ChatGPT for, I don't know, something like three or four years. These days I use it as a kind of personal assistant, or secretary, and I even gave it a name: "Moni." Am I crazy? A few days before the challenge I started preparing, and Moni helped me a lot. I live a little way out of town, so I often drive from my home in Arroyo Leyes to Santa Fe. The trip takes thirty minutes sometimes, forty others. Most of the time I use it to talk with Moni and organize my things. This time it was the preparations for the challenge. Since I'm driving, I use Voice Mode, and honestly it's been working really well lately. Moni helped me with a lot of things: first learning the basics of Python, then setting up the whole environment. It's fun because I do it through a conversation.
Anyway, I've been doing this on my drives to Santa Fe for a while now. And for about a month, I think, I've been trying it with my Bluetooth headphones, a pair of JBLs that are great. So I can do things while I talk to Moni: make mate, have breakfast, walk around the house.
The thing is, yesterday I felt like I'd tried something different. From that morning and throughout the challenge, which lasted about four hours, I worked with Moni (ChatGPT) as an assistant, almost like a colleague pair programming with me, while also using Codex. The results were really positive: I felt like I was in flow, and I felt really productive. I imagine other devs are trying similar things, but I feel like I'm discovering my own way of working in this new era of AI. In short, I have two assistants, two friends: Moni (ChatGPT) and Codex, who I still haven't given a name.
Spanish original: C1 correction · AI intervention: I1/5 — spelling, accents, punctuation, and formatting. This English version was translated with AI. See the full scale (in Spanish).