Introduction
While working on the development of this website, I began experimenting with artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT. Initially it started as simple curiosity, but over time AI became a regular assistant during everyday development tasks.
Instead of searching through documentation or multiple forum posts, I often found that AI could quickly suggest patterns, examples, and ideas that helped move development forward.
After using AI across many parts of the project — including Drupal controllers, Twig templates, deployment scripts, and UI design — I developed a clearer understanding of where AI is helpful and where human judgment still matters.
AI as a Development Assistant
One of the most useful aspects of AI is that it can act as a development assistant. It helps generate examples, explain concepts, and propose possible solutions.
During the development of this site I used AI to assist with:
- Drupal routing and controllers
- taxonomy-based content structures
- Twig template logic
- deployment automation
- UI and layout improvements
- refactoring and code cleanup
In many situations AI produced a very good starting point, which I could then adjust to match the exact architecture of the project.
Speeding Up Routine Development Tasks
Another clear benefit is speed. Development often involves many small tasks that are necessary but repetitive — writing boilerplate code, structuring templates, or preparing configuration logic.
AI can generate these structures very quickly, saving time that would otherwise be spent searching for examples or writing everything from scratch.
This allows more focus on the actual design and architecture of the project.
Pattern Recognition
AI tools are particularly strong at recognizing patterns that appear frequently in software development. Frameworks like Drupal, Symfony, or Laravel follow common structures, and AI has seen many variations of those patterns.
Because of this, AI often suggests correct approaches for tasks such as entity queries, controller design, or Twig rendering.
Of course, the suggestions are not always perfect, but they often provide a very useful starting point.
The Importance of Human Oversight
Despite its usefulness, AI still requires careful review. Sometimes suggestions may be incomplete, slightly incorrect, or not fully adapted to a specific project.
That is why developer experience remains essential. The best workflow is collaborative: AI proposes ideas, while the developer evaluates and refines them.
In that sense, AI does not replace developers — it enhances productivity when used thoughtfully.
AI as a Thinking Tool
Another interesting discovery is that AI can also function as a thinking tool. Discussing architecture decisions, naming conventions, or layout ideas with AI can help clarify thoughts quickly.
Even when the final solution is different from the first suggestion, the conversation itself can help refine ideas and reveal better approaches.
Conclusion
Using AI during the development of this website has been a valuable experience. It helped accelerate routine tasks, provided useful examples, and supported many small decisions along the way.
At the same time, the process reinforced an important idea: AI is most powerful when combined with human experience and judgment.
Used properly, AI can become an effective assistant for development, planning, debugging, and even content creation.