Wade through ads
Skim a treatise on the history of centering content
Skim over the “this question is off topic / duplicate” noise if Stack Overflow
Find some code on the page
Try to map how that code will work in the context of your other layout
Realize it’s plain CSS and you’re looking for Tailwind
Keep searching
Try some stuff until it works
Or…
Ask LLM. Wait 20-30 seconds. Move on to the next thing.
I did that a lot initially, it’s really only with the advent of Claude Code integrated with VS Code that I’m learning more like I would learn from a code review.
It also depends on the project. Work code gets a lot more scrutiny than side projects, for example.
Aaand done. Very first result was a blog post showing all the different ways to do it, old and new, without any preamble.
Given how often people acknowledge that ai slop needs to be verified, it seems like a shitty way to achieve something like this vs just checking it yourself with well known good reference material.
If you haven’t been convinced by pure argument in 2026 then you probably won’t be. But the great thing is you don’t have to take anyone’s word for it.
This isn’t crypto, where everyone using it has a stake in its success. You can just try it, or not.
You: Hey ChatGPT, help me center a div.
ChatGPT: Certainly, I'd be glad to help! But first you must drink a verification can to proceed.
Or:
ChatGPT: I'm sorry, you appear to be asking a development-related question, which your current plan does not support. Would you like me to enable "Dev Mode" for an additional $200/month? Drink a verification can to accept charges.
Come on!
As a bonus, I pay attention to what the AI did and its results, and I have actually learned quite a bit about how to do this myself even without AI assistance
