The short answer is that programmers become responsible for outcomes, not code. The longer answer is there are no programmers - AI is a
replacement, not an assistant, since it’s primary purpose is to deskill its operators.
If AI is writing all the code and no one is reviewing it, how the heck can anyone be responsible or accountable for code they not only don't understand and eventually *can never understand*?
The short answer is that programmers become responsible for outcomes, not code. The longer answer is there are no programmers, since AI exists to deskill them.
If AI is writing all the code with no one reviewing it, how can anyone be accountable for code they not don't understand and may never understand?
Short answer: programmers become responsible for outcomes, not code. Longer answer: there are no programmers, since AI exists to deskill them.
AI can generate a lot of code quickly. There’s a thought that we can catch its mistakes or other issues by reviewing that code. In theory, this may be true; code review can catch bugs. In practice, it only works if the reviewer knows what to look for, has some context and, well, gives a shit.
There's a thought that we can catch mistakes in AI-generated code by reviewing it (or having an AI do that). This is short-sighted thinking, especially as developers lose the skill of code review entirely. Better to use AI to create better tooling.
Allowing an AI to write code that you then ship without considerate review causes some anxiety. How do you know the code works? How do you
know it isn’t doing something strange you didn’t ask for?
It feels like you can’t totally trust it. However, a product manager or engineering leader doesn’t review the code developers are shipping. They are trusted. What’s different?
Allowing an AI to write code that you then ship without considerate review causes some anxiety. Engineering leaders do this all the time with
their team members - they don't review all the code. What's different?
I wish I’d retired before the industrial revolution of computer programming happened, but I have not and cannot. So I must come to grips with
the fact that in many cases, AI-powered tools can do a perfectly fine job of writing code. The following is a brief pursuit of the facts as I
see them and I just can’t see how in any professional workplace, it makes sense to write code by hand any more.
Beginning a job search, it’s clear that to stay in technology means to be in the orbit of AI and
AI-generated code, and I need to come to terms with this and figure out how to navigate it. As such, I’m
going to start writing more about AI. I process information via writing, so here we are.
I need to come to terms with AI-coding being here to stay, at least for a while. So, I'm going to start writing more about AI.
Almost a year ago, I returned to the Linux Desktop after almost 20 years. I abandoned it a month or so later out of frustration with a surprising lack of configurability and general exhaustion of addressing the myriad papercuts that come with trying to change computing platforms.
In the last few weeks, I’ve revisited it and had a lot more success.
I think I may have had more success with Linux recently, despite how actually unconfigurable and limiting
Linux is.
I created pwa.support as a way to both examine any website to see if it can be installed as
a progressive web app, but also to capture in some detail the depressing state of support for this concept across
major browsers and operating systems.
The death of a software craftsman
Well, it happens a lot ‘round here
You think quality is a common goal
That goes to show how little you know
Developers work hard over the years to cultivate tools and techniques to improve the quality of the construction of their software. These tools and techniques are slowly becoming even more useless than they may already be. We must adapt by either going all-in, totally opting-out, or finding a middle ground by tracking the AI code-generation craze to fill the gap as a hand-coding artisan.
I recently got to chat with Jared Norman on the Dead Code Podcast. We talked mostly about Brut, but also a bit about hardware synthesizers and looptober.
If you want to know about more about why Brut exists or its philisophical underpinnings, check it out!