Code can be art, making food can also be art. So I'm don't agree with your distinction that code is materially different from baking.
The terminology "from scratch" and "by hand" are really not interchangeable in my opinion. "By hand" implies something about the process. "From scratch" implies something about the state before you started, not anything about the process.
It's fine to disagree, I don't think you're "wrong", and I don't think I'm "right" either. We just have different perspectives and definitions of words, and that's ok.
I think the more important thing is understanding the intent of the person speaking, instead of just trying to win an argument, as that's derailing the conversation/topic anyways. And in this context, all I was trying to convey by using "by hand" and "from scratch" was the notion of coding without using an LLM.
That's fine for bread, but for people that see code more like art, they have a preconceived notion that "from scratch" means writing the code yourself.
Some people code to solve a problem and they don't care how it gets done. They have no problems using AI and see other methods as prehistoric. That's fine for them, carry on.
For me, the journey is more important than the destination.
Being able to code "by hand" is what strokes my sense of worth and accomplishment... knowing I can do something that not just anyone can. Pushing a button or prompting an AI isn't the same for me, that's more like a project manager and something I never want to be.
When people bash on the anti-AI crowd, they just don't understand that people code for different reasons, and neither is more right or wrong.