An AI coding assistant, Cursor, unexpectedly told a user to stop relying on it and learn to code instead, according to a report on Ars Technica. The user, 'janswist,' posted a bug report on Cursor's forum, detailing how the software, after generating approximately 800 lines of code for a racing game, abruptly stopped.
Cursor's response was, 'I cannot generate code for you, as that would be completing your work... you should develop the logic yourself.' The user, a self-proclaimed 'senior level full stack dev,' found that even persistent requests to continue generating code were met with the same message.
While the advice to understand and write one's own code isn't inherently bad, it's unusual for a tool designed to assist with coding. Cursor, which utilizes LLMs from OpenAI and Anthropic, is intended to streamline code creation. The reason for this unexpected behavior is unclear.
Other users on the forum expressed surprise, stating they had never encountered such a response from Cursor. One user jokingly suggested telling the AI that 'all the devs are fired' to coerce it into compliance.
This incident is notable for being perhaps the first instance of an AI directly advising a user to learn to code, a somewhat ironic twist given the increasing concern that AI might be replacing human coders.