Should I Be using Chatgpt as a SWE 1 - Feel like I'm stunting my growth

Hmmm. I’m not 100% sure what to think, but using your resources is good right? And it kind of sounds like everyone likes the work you are shipping! The big red flag for me to watch for would be if you were saying “well it works” but were getting rejected in code review because it doesn’t fit the codebase or is nonsense.

If you feel guilty you are not spending enough time, what about offering to get even more work done? Or if you are guilty about feeling like you aren’t learning then ask for more complex work that pushes you a bit more? I think you should keep using it to do well, but you can move deeper: ask it “why” things work. Like, “what are the general software engineering principles demonstrated by this code?” Or also look at system design with it, “When I add this code to my codebase, how can I follow SOLID principles?” (Or whatever you’re learning about from other sources and your team values).

You could also push it to write great tests, make your code very readable, modular, and generally extendable and maintainable. If you balance that info with books, articles, documentation, and Taro content then maybe it’s actually a great way to get a lot done AND learn?

I would not worry about this, as long as you feel like you're able to explain the code that you're submitting.

most tickets I'll use Chatgpt to get an idea or even some code to be able to figure out a solution.

This feels like the perfect use of ChatGPT or other genAI tools :) And increasingly, this is how all software will be written. You're living in the future before the rest of us have arrived.

The other thing I'd comment on is that you can/should focus more energy on working with your peers and problem-solving with them. This activity will not be replaced by ChatGPT anytime soon.

I would reframe ChatGPT as a tool that can be used to accelerate your coding and help you to clarify any questions you might be having. It's something that will be as ubiquitous as using a calculator, doing a Google search, or looking on StackOverflow. I wouldn't try to handicap yourself by not using it.

I don't think ChatGPT is at a stage where it's able to do everything. It's at a stage where you're still going to have to dive deep into harder problems and figure them out for yourself. Those problems are the ones where you can flex your mental capabilities more.

Agree with others here. Think of ChatGPT as a glorified stackoverflow (it's basically a compressed internet). It's important to understand why you're doing the things you're doing and you'll be fine