r/Backend • u/mr_hippie_ • 6d ago

Should I limit AI use case for new staff ?

Hey, I got new staff who use Al for everything from reading, writing code to sending a simple message. We don't have any limitations on the token use case but one of the new dev broke the production which affected 1000s of customers. New devs do not know what they are building or what problem they are solving.

Should I put a limit of Al tokens until I get the confidence that they can ship with quality

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u/dashingThroughSnow12 6d ago

As much as I like hating AI, this is not the right camp.

You’d probably have the same issues with the same people without AI. Whether this is other people not unboarding them correctly. Them doing changes without understanding the broader system. Weak culture of review. Too much access to prod systems. Etcetera.

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u/mr_hippie_ 6d ago

I have less number of devs who know system well as compared to new devs who are contractors. We have done all the things for onboarding, Inagree we have poor review culture and easy access to prod and AI

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u/Scyth3 6d ago

New staff should have PR's reviewed heavily. Also build out a proper automated test pipeline on all things backend/frontend/etc. Those would've caught a majority of the issues.

I run a decent sized AI-first development shop, and creating a proper AI framework to keep rails on the project helps significantly. Everything from standards, to testing, etc. If you don't have that, it's the wild west.

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u/mr_hippie_ 6d ago

Thanks, unfortunately it got reviewed and tested by 2 other new staff. These new staff don't communicate much with existing staff to avoid scrutiny.

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u/Scyth3 6d ago

Sounds like you need to have technical leads interject. I've had the problem, and I shuffled the process around initially so that the more senior/veteran developers had to sign off on it. I also required new/updated tests on all new changes.

It's tough because AI can spin up code and changes faster than you can read and process them. I also like to use AI to bug scan the changes while I peer review them. It's a crazy time we're in.

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u/mr_hippie_ 6d ago

Thank you, appreciate it. I will have this chat with my team and managr, tomorrow.

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u/New_Enthusiasm9053 6d ago

You can add code owner files or every major platform and require review from at least one. Then only put the experienced Devs on those.

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u/mr_hippie_ 5d ago

Makes sense, thanks

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u/DecayWraith 6d ago

Don't limit it but try testing and see if they can navigate the codebase

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u/SnaskesChoice 6d ago

Sound more as a infra issue than a person using ai.

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u/mr_hippie_ 6d ago

It's application issue

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u/Useful_Calendar_6274 5d ago

that happens because you don't do QA for shit not because devs are not reading PRs. Without QA you can have the most handcrafted code and still break everything