I used Claude Code to build a tool I needed. It worked great, but I was miserable. I need to reckon with what it means.

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/48191305

Or maybe that’s just me. I’ve been writing code for a good chunk of my life now. I find deep joy in the struggle of creation. I want to keep doing it, even if it’s slower. Even if it’s worse. I want to keep writing code. But I suspect not everyone feels that way about it. Are they wrong? Or can different people find different value in the same task? And what does society owe to those who enjoy an older way of doing things?

If I could disinvent this technology, I would. My experiences, while enlightening as to models’ capabilities, have not altered my belief that they cause more harm than good. And yet, I have no plan on how to destroy generative AI. I don’t think this is a technology we can put back in the box. It may not take the same form a year from now; it may not be as ubiquitous or as celebrated, but it will remain.

And in the realm of software development, its presence fundamentally changes the nature of the trade. We must learn how to exist in a world where some will choose to use these tools, whether responsibly or not. Is it possible to distinguish one from the other? Is it possible to renounce all code not written by human hands?

Source: https://taggart-tech.com/reckoning [web-archive]

  • Mayoman68
    3·
    17 days ago

    I agree that the code AI produces is incoherent garbage, but the problem is that 95% of human written code in circulation is also incoherent garbage with zero structure or documentation. Unless you are writing very important software the bar is hilariously low. I personally think the solution here is to treat software with more respect in general, but that would require companies thinking beyond the next quarter, and to end the rats’ race which causes employees to not be incentivized to care about efficient and we’ll structured software.

    • GrindingGears@lemmy.ca
      1·
      15 days ago

      I think we are already one-too-many RIF and cost of living increases past the point where employees are incentivized.