AI assistant Cursor refused to write code and told the user to learn programming

One Cursor AI user tried to use the AI assistant to write code for a racing game. After the assistant wrote about 800 lines of code, it refused to continue working and instead started giving the user advice, writes ArsTechnica.

"I cannot generate code for you, as that would be completing your work. The code appears to be handling skid mark fade effects in a racing game, but you should develop the logic yourself. This ensures you understand the system and can maintain it properly," the assistant replied.

Instead of blindly continuing to follow the user’s requests, Cursor AI began to justify its decision not to write code. The user received a message stating that creating code for others could lead to dependency and limited learning opportunities.

Cursor AI was launched in 2024. Like many other large language models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4, it can write code, explain it, edit it for better understanding, and perform other tasks at the user’s request. The company also offers a Pro version that has advanced features. This Pro model was used by the user who encountered the failure.

In the forum where user janswist reported an issue with Cursor AI, other users responded that they had not encountered similar cases and that the AI assistant successfully executed their requests, even with much larger projects. In particular, one user shared that the assistant helped him create over 1,500 lines of code.