For anyone taking their first steps in IT, the temptation of instant solutions offered by artificial intelligence is very strong. But long-term success in this industry depends on the ability to tell the difference between “owning the code” and “mastering the logic”.
Let's be honest: if you're thinking about starting to study IT for beginners or learning programming at a more advanced level, your first instinct is probably to use an AI tool. That's normal. AI (artificial intelligence) answers you fast, is available around the clock, and seems to have all the answers.
But if you want to make the shift from “I copied some code that works” to “I understand exactly what I did”, things get a bit more complicated. In this article, we set aside the complicated terms and talk about how to use artificial intelligence as an ally, without becoming dependent on it.
We look at the balance between the efficiency of AI tools (based on artificial intelligence) and the undeniable value of mentorship in IT, in live online IT courses for beginners and advanced learners.
We answer the question:
Why do IT or programming courses that run live and put you face to face with a mentor help you truly learn, and above all apply what you've learned?
So, we'll try to understand together:
- the difference between getting a quick solution and learning to think for yourself;
- why the experience of a mentor, an expert in the field, beats any “prompt”;
- why you should take online IT courses with a mentor, so you come away with a real profession, not just a screen full of code.
AI as a support assistant. The speed of getting answers vs. the quality of learning
In the age of speed, a tool like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity seems like the ideal partner when you set out to take an online IT course. You get the code instantly, you get the app running in a few seconds, and everything seems simple and easy.
However, this is where the critical distinction comes in: there's a major difference between “having the solution” and “having the skill”.
Imagine you want to solve a puzzle and someone puts the pieces directly in place for you. Yes, you have the finished picture in 10 seconds, but did you learn how it's assembled?
That's pretty much what happens with AI, artificial intelligence, when you want to learn on your own or with the help of a recorded online IT course. It's very tempting to ask the AI for the code or a solution to a programming problem, hit “run”, and be happy that it works.
But this is also where the trap lies: there's a huge difference between having a solution that works on screen and having the skill in your mind.
For example, in an IT course on Building AI Agents with Python or Agentic AI with .NET, you can ask an artificial intelligence platform to write you a script for an AI agent. It will certainly do it right away. But if you don't grasp the logic behind it, how it was designed and structured, you won't know how to make changes or fix any bugs when your AI agent starts giving wrong answers in production.
Or, let's take a Software Product Development course as an example. AI can generate you a list of features, but the mentor will explain to you, in the live online IT course sessions, why a certain product structure is better for the end user, or how to manage an entire team.
If AI does all the heavy lifting for you, your brain “goes on vacation” and stops retaining the logic behind the product.
At Informal School of IT, mentors encourage you to use AI technology, but as an assistant that helps you, not as a replacement for thinking.
AI's speed is an advantage only if it's paired with the desire to understand the “why” behind every line of code.
Also read: Live online IT courses vs. recorded tutorials: why mentorship is the key to real progress
Why AI gives you the “fish”, but the mentor teaches you to “fish” in the real world
Artificial intelligence is excellent at generating isolated code snippets, but it lacks the big picture. In a real work environment, it's not enough to deliver a feature; you need to know how it fits into a complex ecosystem.
You probably know the old saying: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” In the tech world, AI is the one that gives you the “fish” – that is, a ready-made piece of code. It sounds good in the moment, but when the problem changes and AI no longer understands the context, it can hand you a solution that isn't applicable or compatible with the system you're working in.
For example:
- In a SQL Databases Complete course, you can ask an AI to write you a query that pulls some data. It does it. But a mentor will teach you how to think through the database structure, so the system doesn't “freeze” when you have a million users.
- If you take a Java Complete course or .NET Development, AI can write you a function that works. But the mentor, who has seen hundreds of real projects, will teach you how to write that code so your teammates or project colleagues can still read it and use it even two years from now.
- In the DevOps field, AI can generate you an automation script, but it can't teach you the collaborative “spirit” or how to handle a crisis when the servers go down in the middle of the night.
In online IT and programming courses with mentors, they don't just give you the right answer; they guide you through the widest variety of real problems, teach you to think architecturally, and to anticipate challenges an algorithm doesn't even suspect.
Enroll now in the online IT course designed just for you!The mentors at Informal School of IT aren't just there to tell you whether you wrote a function correctly; they teach you strategy.
They help you understand how all the pieces connect to each other in a real application, and how to find solutions when the technology misfires. While AI delivers you a quick answer, the mentor trains your mind to think like a professional.
The “it works, but I don't know why” trap. The importance of context that AI ignores
The biggest challenge when you try to learn programming relying only on recorded tutorials and AI is the lack of context. It's very easy to fall into “magic” mode: you copy-pasted, the code ran, you checked off the task.
But in reality, an AI tool can generate code that works now but is a “ticking time bomb” for the future – it's either inefficient or vulnerable.
Let's take a concrete example from the Manual and Automated Software Testing Course area:
You can ask an AI to write you a script to test whether a login form on a website works. AI will give you code that checks whether you get into the account when you enter a username and password. “It works!”.
But an experienced mentor will stop you and ask: “But what happens if the user leaves the fields empty? Or if they click the button 10 times a second? Or if the database goes down at exactly that moment?”. AI ignores such real-life scenarios, but the mentor teaches you to anticipate them.
This is the difference between being a mere “doer” and becoming a responsible specialist. At Informal School of IT, mentors bring experience from real projects, explaining to you why a certain approach is better, even if at first glance both options “work”.
This nuance is what transforms you from an enthusiast searching for solutions online into a professional people can rely on.
Also read: Why take a manual and automated software testing course?
Dialogue vs. Monologue: why a mentor's questions are worth more than AI's answers
Interacting with an AI (artificial intelligence) is, in essence, an assisted monologue: you ask, it executes. True learning, however, happens in the space of dialogue. A mentor notices where you hesitate, identifies the gaps in your logic, and, most importantly, asks you the right questions that force you to find the solution yourself.
At Informal School of IT, live sessions are built on this exchange of ideas. A mentor's questions – “How do you think this code will scale?”, “What happens if the user enters an invalid value?” – are what truly develop your programmer's reflexes, something a prompt cannot replicate.
Let's take a scenario from a live session in the Python Development or Java Complete course:
You wrote a piece of code to calculate the average of some grades, but the result is wrong. If you ask an AI, it will rewrite the correct code for you in 2 seconds. You copy-paste it, it works, but the “bug” in your logic remains unidentified.
In a live online course at Informal School of IT, the mentor notices where you got stuck. Instead of giving you the solution, they'll ask you: “Take a look at line 12. What value do you think your variable has there, if the user enters the number 0?” At that moment, something “clicks” in your brain. That question forced you to analyze it yourself, find the error, and understand it.
This exchange of ideas is something no prompt, however well written, can replicate. By the end of the course session, you don't just leave with code that works, but with a mind trained to find solutions.
Also read: What Lifelong Learning, or continuous learning, means
Debugging with AI vs. Debugging with a mentor: who trains your mind?
When you get an error with red text all over the screen, your first instinct is to copy-paste it into AI and type: “Fix this!” It's the fast route, but it's like asking someone to solve a crossword puzzle for you: you filled in the squares, but you didn't learn a single new word.
Debugging – that is, finding and fixing mistakes – is perhaps the most important skill you'll gain in an online IT course with mentors.
Let's see what that looks like in reality, for example in a .NET Development or SAP ABAP DEVELOPMENT course:
The scenario with artificial intelligence:
You get a “Null Reference” error. AI tells you: “Add this line of code to check whether the value is null.” You add it, the error disappears, but you still don't know why that value was null. The problem will come back, in a different form.
The scenario with the expert IT mentor:
The mentor doesn't give you the solution directly. They teach you the “detective methodology”. They teach you to trace, step by step, how the data is connected and to see where information is lost. They show you how to read the system logs and how to use the debugging tools.
While AI fixes one specific error for you in the moment, the mentor trains your mind to solve complex problems. This process gives you the confidence that, when you work on a real, confidential project (where you're not allowed to copy-paste into AI), you'll know exactly how to investigate and find the solution yourself.
At Informal School of IT, we don't just teach you to write code that works; we teach you to be the one who knows why it doesn't work and how to fix it.
What no prompt can generate: soft skills and business culture in the IT industry
The IT industry isn't just about code; it's about people, collaboration, and understanding business needs. No language model can teach you how to communicate in an Agile team, how to receive constructive feedback, or how to negotiate a client's requirements.
Our mentors come with the cultural background of the industry. They give you insights into everyday life at a tech company and teach you professional etiquette. These “soft” skills are what make the difference between a programmer who writes code and a specialist who can integrate into a team.
Conclusion: AI gives you the answer, the Mentor gives you the direction. The mix for success in IT
Artificial intelligence is an extraordinary ally and a tool that every student who wants to learn programming should master. However, to become a truly good specialist in the field, technology must remain a means, not an end.
The mix for your success in IT is simple: use AI for efficiency, but rely on the experience, accreditations, and guidance of a mentor to build your foundation.
At Informal School of IT, we help you turn information into real, officially recognized competence, giving you not just answers, but a clear direction.
Accreditations of the IT courses at Informal School:
- the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research
- the Romanian Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity
- Diplomas recognized in the EU, the USA, and Canada
See the list of live online IT courses starting this month!Are you ready to learn from the best? Discover Informal School of IT's accredited courses and learn IT with a mentor by your side!
