> I have a theory that enforcing reduced engagement has all sorts of side effects in any format

This isn’t a particularly novel theory because you are basically saying “Doing different things makes different things happen.” Shocker.

Do you find AI immensely valuable for coding? Would you be happy to be a 100% passenger in your coding analogy?

As stated too vague to be interpretable, I agree. The theory isn't novel either, it's well known that easier to use = less engaged, What's less clear but still somewhat well discussed is semi automated = lower quality & more mistakes.

In future I wouldn't mind doing both, since I could be driving and a passenger in multiple contexts with less overhead. Currently attempting to work this way is painful due to the aformentioned switching.