Code has a lot of bits of information the compiler users to construct the program. But not all because software needs iteration to get right both in bugs and in solving the intended problem.

The llm prompt has even fewer bits of information specifying the system than code. The model has a lot more bits but still finite. A perfect llm cannot build a perfect app in one shot.

However AIs can research, inquire, and iterate to gain more bits than when you started.

So the comparison to a compiler is not apt because the compiler can’t fix bugs or ask the user for more information about what the program should be.

Most devs are using ai at the autocomplete level which is like this compiler analogy which makes sense in 2025 but that isn’t where we will be in 2030.

What we don’t know is how good the technology will be in the future and how cheap and how fast. But it’s already very different than a compiler.