u/Sibikrish3000

I've been spiraling hard with imposter syndrome. I can't solve Medium LeetCode problems from scratch, I "vibe code" by using AI (Claude/Cursor) for boilerplate and then debug the hell out of everything, and I feel like I'm just a copier who builds stuff by searching online.

I poured all this out to Gemini, and it gave me this very blunt, very real response. I’m posting it here because I want honest opinions from actual engineers.

So Reddit... is Gemini just being nice and pumping me up, or is this actually accurate? Am I a real software engineer or still an imposter for relying on AI and debugging instead of pure algorithmic wizardry?

Would love some brutal honesty from people who’ve been in the industry. Thanks.