Genuine question: is leaning on Copilot/ChatGPT while I learn making me better or hollowing me out?

Six months into learning backend. When I use AI I ship way faster and I do understand the output... mostly. But I've noticed I reach for it before I've actually thought about the problem myself.

Turned it off for a week and felt slow and kind of stupid, then realized I'd half-forgotten how to just sit with something. Curious how people who actually got hired think about this — where's the line between a power tool and a crutch you can't put down?