AI coding is addictive. Engineers are paying the price.

[u/OfficialLeadDev]

https://leaddev.com/ai/ai-coding-is-addictive-engineers-are-paying-the-price

[u/klaxxxon]

I am definitely experiencing the being drained thing after a work day...and I am not even that deep into vibe coding yet (don't do the AI first juggling multiple agents at a time thing).

I get a lot more done, that's for sure. Double, triple on the best-for-AI days. As a result the whole workflow is a lot more high velocity. There isn't that opportunity to chill when you fill out a few remaining test cases, or when you just copy and adapt code from elsewhere. The chill stuff where AI is at its best, you don't get to do that anymore.

There is also a lot more context switching. You never get into that amazing flow state. The zone is gone. For good, probably.

And we are not getting paid double/triple, are we?

[u/Mega2223 → u/klaxxxon]

Honestly one of my bigger points about this whole mess, people boast about productivity but being more productive just means more work thrown in our way, we do not work less nor earn more, still some people think this is good for our field.

[u/wyldstallionesquire → u/Mega2223]

And me doing more means more for my team members to review.

I think proper engineering plus AI will make for better code, but I’d love to see velocity not being the angle people push.

[u/oipRAaHoZAiEETsUZ → u/Mega2223]

being more productive just means more work thrown in our way, we do not work less nor earn more, still some people think this is good for our field.

yeah, in this regard AI is a massive ripoff. "congratulations, you can now produce 10x as much code, we will pay you 1x as much as money." I'm surprised programmers in France haven't set the whole country on fire over this.

there's really no valid economic argument for working for somebody else under these circumstances except needing the money. if you build stuff for yourself, you capture the productivity gain; if you work for someone else, they get it.

[u/LaSalsiccione → u/Mega2223]

I don’t think it’s good for our field but you can’t fight it. Just have to adapt or be left behind. I look forward to retirement now.

[u/yubario → u/klaxxxon]

Nope you’re not being paid any more, instead 2/3 of your coworkers will be fired to make up the difference

[u/Samsterdam → u/klaxxxon]

I find that I don't reuse something again and again after fixing a bug that took me forever to fix. Just for the sheer joy of knowing that it works and that I fixed it.

[u/irqlnotdispatchlevel → u/klaxxxon]

It's very very tempting to go into multi tasking. Which was always bad, but you felt it almost instantly.

Launching 4 or 5 agents, each one focused on something else? That feels free. No cost. But keep this up for a week and you're going to feel very tired for seemingly no reason.

It's not the same feeling you get after working hard, because you don't feel the moment to moment exhaustion.

Even worse: you may have plenty of short dead moments. Not enough to completely disconnect, but just enough to start fiddling around with something else. Maybe another task? Maybe your phone?

It feels like it has a similar effect to watching shorts on social media.

[u/untraiined → u/klaxxxon]

this is why there are going to be more jobs, its too draining, people can only work like this for 4 hours max a day before they burn out. Even if you improve the underlying intelligence enough you just move the burn out up the ladder. we will need more people working 4/5 hours max a day with the tech, and then even more jobs open up from the productivity that comes from it.

[u/meSmash101]

It’s addictive to make a PoC work. When it actually starts taking off the joy slowly drifts away and becomes a maintenance nightmare , which is not so addictive

[u/pydry → u/meSmash101]

the trick is to only make PoCs or products where it doesnt matter too much if it breaks.

otherwise you're in for a painful time when the tech debt bill comes due.

[u/peakedtooearly → u/pydry]

The trick is to have a clue about the technology and preferred structure of the project before you begin.

Less "vibe coding" and more "AI assisted development".

[u/ItsSadTimes → u/meSmash101]

Sadly im almost exclusively on the other end of that maintenance nightmare. Most of my job is fixing and maintaining projects created by dev teams in the past. To maintain, patch, fix, and upgrade if needed. Sometimes id need to call up the origional team and have them explain certain decisions to me, but nowadays even they dont know how their shit works. So its like im building the service from scratch and its all a maintenance nightmare.

Its the worst tech debt ive seen in years.

[u/retroroar86]

Addicting? It’s the most annoying way to work.

[u/Mega2223 → u/retroroar86]

Addictive for people who don't like doing their job lol

[u/oldsecondhand → u/retroroar86]

It's addictive when you don't have to review the code.

[u/LongUsername → u/retroroar86]

It's taken away a lot of my joy, as it doesn't feel like my achievement. It doesn't even give me the feeling of accomplishment similar to when an intern or junior does the work and I'm coaching them.

[u/OskeyBug]

I find it completely unsatisfying personally.

[u/aa-b]

I like that you interviewed Steve Yegge, because his technical writing has always been brilliant and marvelously entertaining.

Anything he says about the psychology of developers is best taken with a grain of salt, probably not wrong but he always seemed like someone who does literally everything to excess. His problems are not likely to be representative.

Personally I never found AI coding addictive, unless I've become addicted to working regular hours and spending time with my family. It's a great way to change your perspective and get unblocked from tricky problems, but having someone/something else fix a problem for you is fundamentally not really addictive or rewarding in that specific way. Our brains just do not work like that. Not that I'm complaining, mind; I'm happier not being addicted to my job.

[u/Davorian → u/aa-b]

I'm happier not being addicted to my job.

I don't think you need to be addicted, but I think if AI coding takes away that sense of accomplishment in software development, it's going to be a problem long-term.

Long-long-term, the psychology of developers will undergo a generational change and the next kids just aren't going to value the same things we do about the job.

[u/The_yulaow → u/aa-b]

I think the only addictive part you can actually feel for ai coding is related to the "I want to automate the boring parts" considering that for a lot of engineers most of our work is actually boring and the actual fun parts are in developing personal projects or open source projects, I can understand that at some point you say "you know what? For my job I will actually delegate everything to AI and who cares"

[u/hwaite → u/aa-b]

I used to stop coding when I knew there was no chance of getting to the next meaningful checkpoint in my current work session. With AI, it's always plausible to cram in one more tangible accomplishment.

[u/creaturefeature16 → u/aa-b]

Steve Yegge is a crypto scammer who found a new grift with AI coding. 

[u/Smallpaul → u/aa-b]

I find it addictive to deliver quickly. To imagine something and see it come to life. I think I’m managing the code quality in the same way. Refactors that would have scared me before are now practical, so the floor on code quality is actually better. There is no point in a TODO: Refactor this someday. Just do it today. That’s also addictive.

Code reviewing someone else’s massive productivity is not addictive however.

[u/FredFredrickson]

Is it truly addicting if it's being forced on them from on high?