I got into SWE because I like solving problems. I like solving problems using code. I also like solving problems using AI.

I have very mixed feelings.

- AI lets me plough through issues which previously would require debugging, troubleshooting, googling, stackoverflow

- my coding abilities are starting to atrophy

- not having to deal with low-level language quirks is nice (parameter differences of subString in C# vs Java).

- but I'm seeing the same as OP: when working on a team, the sense of ownership and community is gone. You have AI un-AI-speak for you to properly read the Jira ticket another dev created using AI. Pull requests are echo chambers between the AI used to create it, review bots, other devs using AI for PR reviews manually.

- there's little denying that we devs are feeding the very machine that will replace us

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bb88 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

There's a lot of code I never wanted to be an expert on. I might care about an algorithm. I might care about the UX. There are other things I might let an AI tackle because I don't care about them.

That is a problem though with AI currently. E.g. I've found a severe issue with Claude Code and prose writing when trying to make an explainer site. Instead of "plain" english it likes to use "flowery" phrases and "punchy" statements. This forces the user to spend extra time thinking about it.

And code comments are terrible. It can use 3 paragraphs to describe something when only one sentence is enough. Then further agents (or humans) have to waste their context window to figure out what the "riddle-ly" worded sentences mean.

But the things you care the most about, the AI doesn't unless you tell it to care. And even then, you have to be very careful because it acts more like a contractor with the potential to stop in the middle of a project (lack of tokens) and leave it in a very bad state until it's complete.

Or worse, it forgets what you want and does it's own thing for a while until you remind it.

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cowlevel 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Devs were always feeding the machine to replace everyone else.

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Terr_ 22 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

We were always replacing ourselves: Every "reusable" function or class or library you ever wrote represents lines of code won't get paid to write again. Every compiler takes jobs away from assembly coders.

The looming thing today is qualitatively different, because it's not formalizing something to reliably mass-produce.

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Spooky23 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It’s a point that isn’t made often. AI is mostly saying the quiet part out loud.

The big money valley bros figured it out just before they embraced regressive conservatism for their politics. There’s a reason we went from massages and pet daycare to rentier agriculture executive style management of the peons.

	▲	astrange 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> There’s a reason we went from massages and pet daycare to rentier agriculture executive style management of the peons. And that reason is "service businesses are too expensive in California because of high housing costs".