What made you want to do that btw?

OP here. I'm doing the same and I congratulate you for this. I also agree that AI is an incredibly powerful tool if used in the correct way, although I implemented a RAG and fed it with materials that I find qualitatively superior. Now it works even better.

I considered going back and finally getting a degree, but ultimately decided against it. It takes too much time and probably offers too little value compared to my experience. I might do it if I could speedrun it, but it sounds like you're not meant to do that.

Ultimately, I learn more by studying it myself. Nothing I was formally taught ever went as deep as the things I chose to dive into.

Can you expand on this a bit? Shouldn't you be asking and then through study ,reading, exploration and testing answering your "ok but why" question? I could be misunderstanding what your stating but this would read as being "spoon fed" the answers not curiosity and problem solving, which in most cases is what a higher education is really teaching.

In comparison if you want just structured exercises with known answers, which in cases where you have been in an industry for a while maybe what you are looking for, thats boot camps and certificates.