4 ms·
Here is what worries me the most at the moment: we're in a period of hype, fire all the developers, we have agents, everybody can code now, barrier is not low -
by harel 8mo ago
Here is what worries me the most at the moment: we're in a period of hype, fire all the developers, we have agents, everybody can code now, barrier is not low - it's gone. Great. Roll up a year from now, and we have trillions of lines of code no human wrote. At some point, like a big PR, the agent's driver will just say yes to every change. Nobody now can understand the code easily because nobody wrote it. It works, kinda, but how? Who knows? Roll up another few years and people who were just coding because it's a "job" forget whatever skill they had. I've heard a few times already the phrase "I didn't code in like 10 months, bruh"...
Then what?
Not saying I'm not using AI - because I am. I'm using it in the IDE so I can stay close to every update and understand why it's there, and disagree with it if it shouldn't be there. I'm scared to be distanced from the code I'm supposed to be familiar with. So I use the AI to give me superpowers but not to completely do my job for me.
- CamperBob2 8mo agoI think the idea is that by the time those trillions of lines of code start to cause maintenance problems, the models will be good enough to deal with those problems. We'll see, I guess...
- harel 8mo agoThat won't solve the problem that humans will lose the skill to write code. It will become a hobbyist pass time. Like people listening to 8-tracks now...
- CamperBob2 8mo agoThat won't be a problem -- again assuming the vision comes to pass -- any more than the inability to write Latin and Greek holds anyone back today.
- harel 8mo agoBut Greek and Latin don't underpin our entire planet's infrastructure... Software does.
- CamperBob2 8mo agoA better analogy might be to point out that microprocessors run everything, but almost no one needs to know assembly language anymore.
- danny_codes 8mo agoWhy is that a problem? Sewing by hand is mostly a hobby but it doesn't seem to be a problem for the textile industry. Planting seeds by hand in a field is a hobby too. So is cutting down trees with an ax. It sucks but our skill set is (or will soon be) worthless. If it's a consolation, the same is true for anyone who makes money with their brain.