# Prevent cognitive debt by manually retyping LLM-generated code

DevFeed: [Prevent cognitive debt by manually retyping LLM-generated code](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/prevent-cognitive-debt-by-manually-retyping-llm-generated-code-33287.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://freek.dev/3173-prevent-cognitive-debt-by-manually-retyping-llm-generated-code>)

Author: Freek Van der Herten (freek@spatie.be)

Published: 2026-08-04T12:56:26Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [freek.dev - all blogposts](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/freek-dev-all-blogposts.md>)

Topics: [Large Language Model](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/llm.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [best-practices](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/best-practices.md>), [code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code.md>), [code-quality](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code-quality.md>), [cognitive-load](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cognitive-load.md>), [developer-experience](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/developer-experience.md>), [llm](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/llm.md>), [model](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/model.md>), [practical](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/practical.md>), [prevent](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/prevent.md>), [understand](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/understand.md>)

## AI overview

Ankur Sethi argues that manually retyping code generated by large language models can help developers understand the code, identify poor suggestions, and maintain a strong mental model of their codebase, despite slowing development.

## Source excerpt

Ankur Sethi argues that manually retyping LLM-generated code is a practical way to avoid cognitive debt. It slows you down, but helps you understand the code, catch bad suggestions, and keep a strong mental model of your codebase. Read more