I don't get this with boilerplate. To me boilerplate code is the code that you have to write to satisfy some predefined conditions that has little to do with the semantics of the code I am actually writing. I'm fine with AI writing this stuff for me if it does it reliably, or if the scale is small enough that I can easily spot and fix the errors. I don't see that aspect of coding to be much more than typing.

On the other hand I do a lot more fundamental coding than the median. I do quite a few game jams, and I am frequently the only one in the room who is not using a game engine.

Doing things like this I have written so many GUI toolkits from scratch now that It's easy enough for me to make something anew in the middle of a jam.

For example https://nws92.itch.io/dodgy-rocket In my experience it would have been much harder to figure out how to style scrollbars to be transparent with in-theme markings using an existing toolkit than writing a toolkit from scratch. This of course changes as soon as you need a text entry field. I have made those as well, but they are subtle and quick to anger.

I do physics engines the same way, predominantly 2d, (I did a 3d physics game in a jam once but it has since departed to the Flash afterlife). They are one of those things that seem magical until you've done it a few times, then seem remarkably simple. I believe John Carmack experienced that with writing 3d engines where he once mentioned quickly writing several engines from scratch to test out some speculative ideas.

I'm not sure if AI presents an inhibiter here any more than using an engine or a framework. They both put some distance between the programmer and the result, and as a consequence the programmer starts thinking in terms of the interface through which they communicate instead of how the result is achieved.

On the other hand I am currently using AI to help me write a DMA chaining process. I initially got the AI to write the entire thing. The final code will use none of that emitted output, but it was sufficient for me to see what actually needed to be done. I'm not sure if I could have done this on my own, AI certainly couldn't have done it on it's own. Now that I have (almost (I hope)) done it once in collaboration with AI, I think I could now write it from scratch myself should I need to do it again.

I think AI, Game Engines, and Frameworks all work against you if you are trying to do something abnormal. I'm a little amazed that Monument Valley got made using an engine. I feel like they must have fought the geometry all the way.

I think this jam game I made https://lerc.itch.io/gyralight would be a nightmare to try and implement in an engine. Similarly I'm not sure if an AI would manage the idea of what is happening here.