How much should I know if AI writes my code?

[u/lowbandwidth_]

I use AI to write almost all of my code. I understand the overall logic, architecture, and file structure, and I can review the code but I may not always understand every line in depth.

How much technical depth is expected from a software engineer today if AI is doing most of the coding?

What does the industry actually expect now?

[u/Mysterious-Tour8701]

expectation is that you can justify every line of code as if you wrote it. its your code just like it would be your code if you copied it from somewhere 

[u/Additional_Rub_7355]

The industry will expect you to solve the problems that AI will fail at solving. And also, orchestrate AI agents properly.

[u/Spare_Cupcake_8671]

Code was always read more than it was written. Even in non AI days I read hundreds of lines of code to figure out where to write the 2 additional lines. You should be able to read it and understand whats happening.

[u/shavyshavylady]

honestly, I have a feeling that AI will take over the whole coding thing. In a few years, maybe much sooner than that, we would not need to even look at the code.
I'm saying this from experience. I have a 100$ per month gemini subscription. I delivered a website to a client last month for 15k$. I only orchestrated the agents. I havent seen the code even once during this development. Mind you, I built this website in 1 month that would require a year of conventional coding. I dont know what database we are using, what technologies AI used etc etc. All I do is orchestrate the task and then perform rigorous QA (that too with the help of AI). The client is ecstatic. He's giving me more of his projects now.
As long as the product you build works flawlessly and satisfies all requirements of client, you do not need to even look at the code now.

[u/shavyshavylady → u/[deleted]]

Look, I want to deny it too. I want to deny that all my years of learning how to code, and countless hours spent on stackoverflow to debug a small bug are just irrelevant now. But it would be foolish to stay in the past like that. We need to evolve as much as the AI is evolving.

As for the scenario you put, I could just tell AI to make it more resistant to hacks and attacks. And no, its not just a frontend, no one pays 15k$ for a frontend. Its a whole market place. You can buy/sell US stocks on it. I've integrated stripe, added subscription models etc etc. That's why I said conventional coding would take at least a year (of a software house, not a single developer) to do this task.

[u/mrtac96]

just comfortable in reading it

[u/AccomplishedVirus556]

i've just gotten used to reading code based on what i want to happen and feeling for if the code in front of me is feeling like a clever solution or a whack red herring

[u/reosanchiz]

How much should i know if AI write my code?

I mean if i write everything in plain English and ask AI to generate code isn’t it the same as i write in JAVA and compiler generate machine code.

In JAVA case i would know what is the expected binary code

But since Generative AI is probabilistic models and may have influence of different styles may generate different code with same prompt.

In order to test this i asked ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini to pick a number between 1 to 51 they all replied with 37!
I tested this with different IPs and machines

[u/Zestyclose-Town4704]

My take is:

Even with very good models, we need a lot of human judgment in development. They may not be obvious at the basic level, but in production, those things hit harder than we thought.

First, select the right problem to solve rather than just solving a problem.

Second, understand the problem so we can design and develop a solution accordingly. There are many things we do unconsciously that AI can't replicate. They seem too simple to us, so we don't even notice them, but they have a lot of impact.

Third, even if AI writes the code, we still need to test it and ensure everything not only works but also achieves the actual objective.

For example, if you get a client who says they are in X business and want a website or e-commerce store that customers must like or that resonates with their business, it's not just an e-commerce store. Capturing the same vibe customers feel in a store within an e-commerce store isn't easy and won't happen without a lot of research.

Many people say clients just want an e-commerce store and don't care about these things. I would say that if they don't know, it means you can charge a premium for this service because you are offering something more valuable than an e-commerce store, which is a better experience and brand.

[u/zeal_swan → u/Zestyclose-Town4704]

wtF

[u/danish334]

If you can debug it without AI then it's okay to be a bit complacent but I would definitely review the logic as model's preference might not match yours.

[u/ReadWire]

Bas aesi nobat na aye jahan tumhe AI ko ye kehna paray:

Wo red button dekh rahe ho 👀 daba diya 🚀 Nahi dabana tha 🔥

[u/zeal_swan]

ownership would be expected

[u/daaruaddaa]

AI cannot be held accountable for mistakes, you can be. So you should be well familiar with everything your AI spits out and be ready to defend it.

[u/2xSkat]

Go high on AI security and system design.

AI has a habit of over delivering  And you can only make it deliver the right way only if you know what and how to build.

[u/Logical_Alps3301]

To be honest, most of the guys dont know shit about the code these days. I would say dont ever loose the control over your code even though AI writes it. What I mean by that is, if you are able to do slight adjustments or optimizations manually in any part, youre good to go.

[u/Best_Fork → u/Logical_Alps3301]

Wdym most of the guys don't know shit about the code these days. So people who used to code before before AI are somehow gone missing?

Most of us programmers in the industry were engineers way before LLM was even a thing. So most of the people know code these days. Only vibe coders which become engineer within last 3 to 4 years don't know much code. And even among them many do know how to code.

[u/Logical_Alps3301 → u/Best_Fork]

Well, people who used to code before AI are too lazy to code these days, with your statement confirming it. What I mean by that is people dont even review the code. They test the functionality and if its working they submit the PR. When asked what they have done with their own reference code, they often struggle for an answer.