I'm still reading K&R. As I’ve said before, I like the book — it’s concise, clear, but sometimes a bit dry and requires a thoughtful approach. Without context, some things are hard to grasp, especially if you're learning C from scratch. Sometimes I just want to discuss certain parts with someone. After we moved to Los Angeles, my conversations with my mentor became rare — and to some extent, AI took his place.
The main drawback of AI, I think, is that it always tries to answer — even when it doesn’t know. It can "hallucinate" or make things up. So I always double-check its answers, test them, and look for confirmation elsewhere.
For example, why bother a mentor with a question like “Why is ++i better than i++?” I find even questions like that interesting, but for someone with decades of experience in commercial programming, it probably feels too basic. This way, if he finds it interesting, he can just read my post — and maybe later we’ll talk about it in person.
Overall, I’d say this: learning with AI is faster — and more importantly, deeper. This might be the first book I’ve ever read in conversation.