I have been reading a lot that 90% of their code is AI generated, companies are pushing developers to use AI as it makes them fast. But I am a little cautious of believing them. Is it true? Also sorry I didn’t find a css career subreddit so I am asking here.
Large corporate, some AI tools are available, some are optionally tacked onto PR reviews (Copilot on GitHub). No quotas or enforcement yet. Most vocal proponents of AI happen to be the most obnoxious developers or designers.
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How do you deal with the lack of understanding of the codebase? The company thinks they pay programmers to write code, but in my experience they actually are paying for someone to understand the whole thing. When something goes wrong in production do you just ask AI to identify the problem?
The company thinks they pay programmers to write code
In my company, the C level is pushing hard for AI adoption so everyone is expected to use AI to write code.
When something goes wrong in production do you just ask AI to identify the problem?
Basically, yes. I am no longer programmer but more like software architect or manager. Architecting the design and reviewing AI plan and code.
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Enterprise Architect here.
This is the answer. All the way.
At my job, employees haven’t written code since the asp classic days and it was garbage back then. This meant almost all new code is written by contractors, which is often garbage. And slow, expensive garbage at that.
Now, AI can at least make better code than the contractors at a fraction of the price.
It also tightens the feedback loop between getting half-assed requirements and getting the deliverables back to those who requested them so they can say how it’s not what they asked for. That process used to take months, now it takes like a day between iterations.
I honestly don’t know where people are working where they say they have tight control of first party deliverables and clear requirements with a cogent SDLC. All companies I’ve worked for have been about 1-2k employees. Are these people working in 10k large organizations where people can afford to be an expert in only one thing and camp on it their whole career?
Also, remember those debugger skills because we’ll all need it.
Yeap. As a software engineer, this is 100% my experience.
Writing code was never 100% of the job. The hard part of software engineering is understanding the problem and figuring out the most elegant path to solve it. If AI can do the code-writing part faster, then it’s a good tool to use.
I still spend a third of my week in meetings. I put out on-call fires late at night.
I also spend a good chunk of my time interviewing potential hires. I pretty much expect them to use AI for their code assignments. Including prompt history is a plus if they do. What I do gauge is their ability to explain their code, defend the decisions and know how to adapt to changing circumstances.
I know how to get to this point by starting a couple of decades ago. I do recognise that I don’t have the same grasp of our codebase as if I had written it by hand. I do review everything that gets deployed, but the volume is higher and it doesn’t stick as well.
I don’t know how to get in as a jr today. We’ll know in a few years how it’s done. It’s a new landscape, but if you’re passionate about the field you’ll figure it out.
I write C code for complex embedded products and systems in an industry where change is intentionally a long and drawn out process. Projects take years and support contracts last decades. AI isn’t widely used but it’s available. Most of those that I work with don’t use it at all, and those that do use it use it for cursory tasks like generating reports for management - busy work stuff. There’s talk of it eventually being used for writing and updating tests, the least favorite part of the job. Will it come for more aspects of my job? Probably, and probably sooner than I want.
It’s been creeping slowly into my workplace over the past year. I’ve gotten by without using it myself so far, but there’s been a soft push by management for developers to use AI in their daily work. Experienced devs with a measured approach to AI (“it’s not a silver bullet, but incredibly and increasingly useful”) are given a platform, while AI skeptics are quietly ignored.
Management says they don’t plan on replacing engineers with AI, but it’s hard not to get that impression when a draft for an upcoming company AI meeting has a heading titled “A Bigger Department Without Hiring a Bigger Department”.
AI is quite useful. Especially for prototyping and visualizing stuff. Doing array[:-4] or some other nonsense on a column has never been fun for me. It is also amazing at reading manuals and answering questions.
Hallucinations are also becoming more bearable. Accurately understanding the problem and especially the solution is still the most important part of the job.
From a lot of posts here I get that working as a dev in the US is now a total shitshow. But to give you my European perspective (I work in Germany): AI adoption hasn’t been as rapid here. People and companies are more skeptical about it, compared to the US.
I work as a web developer for an employer that is cautious about AI. I can use it, but I am not forced to. Tried it excessively for a few months (agents writing my code, playing a glorified manager and all of that jazz), but I noticed my own skills atrophying and me losing the general grasp of what my code actually does. And even though everyone and their dog claim that the models get better with each new release, I still run into hallucinations way too often. If you are very experienced in a field and you’ve been doing it for over a decade, you notice all of the small inconsistencies and bullshit answers - much quicker than a junior dev who didn’t have that experience yet.
So nowadays I only use Gemini for tool and library research or really simple boilerplate code. For everything else my own brain is the better solution. I am not actively against AI as a technology, but extremely opposed to paying a subscription to some techbro billionaire’s company to keep doing my job. Fuck Altman, Elon, Jensen and the Zuck.
If Ed Zitron is correct in all of his calculations, the frontier models will get so expensive they’ll become unprofitable for a lot of companies, so it would be a stupid decision to rely on them. I am looking forward to one day host good models on my own machine - though that day is not today, when capable GPU’s still cost thousands of dollars.
If you are a senior level dev you will spend less time writing your own code than ai and you will understand it better, and will not slowly lose your critical thinking skills in the process.
I am still more productive not using ai than anyone else on my team who uses it.
Just gonna leave this here.
AI does not have a foothold in my area, because it still takes far more time to understand what it did, and debug it. Faster to just do it ourselves.
However, there are some programming jobs where people can use what it makes without checking much, or understanding what it does. And while this probably has some cost to pay down the line, if it gets the job done today, then everyone wins.
I know some freelancers, and small shops, that make a lot of money untangling the code made by the above.
My company gave us access to AI tools and encourage us to use them, but nothing is forced, which is nice. I like using Claude for light scripting, explaining bits of code, and as a second set of eyes during review.
If you have AI generate all of your code, you’re going to have a bad time. But if you’re completely against AI and unwilling to use it, you’re probably going to be left in the dust.
This is the only sane answer here, and it makes sense because of the sentiment on Lemmy.
There is one constant rule about software engineering. You must be adaptable. The career is ever changing, you need to be okay with that. I think a lot of people right now are finding out that if they dig in their heels they think they’re making a point, but the company doesn’t care, there’s the door. AI is just another change in the career. Adapt, or be left behind.
The job isn’t the same as it was 5 years ago, which also was different than it was 10 years before that, and then 10 years before that. I’ll say this is a large change, but that’s the job.
I think the biggest thing is there’s no room for “I’m a react engineer” anymore. Everyone needs to be everything, and it means learn as much as you can as fast as you can. You must be a “T-shaped” engineer. Wide breadth, with specific deep knowledge that makes you stand out. You can be an expert at react, but should also know how to code in the backend, and how to deploy, how to work with APIs, some basic cloud architecture. If you’re not learning, you’re falling behind.
1940: “These mechanical monstrosities lack the intuitive check of a human mind. A mathematician can spot a stray digit through reason; a machine will blindly process an error to its conclusion. We are trading the elegance of thought for a noisy, fallible crate of glass and wire.”
1950: “Direct control is the only honest way to command a machine. If you cannot visualize the specific vacuum tube you are firing, you aren’t truly programming. To delegate this to any intermediary is to invite a loss of precision that the hardware simply cannot afford.”
1955: “These ‘mnemonics’ are a crutch for the lazy. By using words instead of addresses, the programmer loses the vital ‘feel’ for memory layout. We are seeing a five-fold decrease in efficiency; no automated assembler can ever match the tight, hand-calculated loops of a master of bits.”
1965: “Compilers are the death of performance. These languages allow ‘programmers’ who don’t even understand the CPU architecture to bloat memory with generic subroutines. Software is becoming a black box—impenetrable, unoptimized, and dangerously detached from the reality of the silicon.”
It’s what makes being a developer a double edged sword. I’m always learning new skills, architectures, languages, and technologies all of the time, which is great. Management wanting me to know it last year to complete today’s new work yesterday is not so great. You have to stay on your toes and learn (and understand) new tech or someone else will.
Agree, and I think it’s funny someone downvoted you because that’s always been the case, AI didn’t change that. It’s just now we’re seeing the next evolution and we’ll see who sticks around and who doesn’t.
Evolve or die. Some people don’t like to hear that I guess. It is what it is.
Ah the centrist approach. 🙄
It’s valid stance. I use it in a similar way as do many devs.
Claude is built into VS and is good for spot checks and review. I will go days without using it, but it’s a more context aware stack overflow. I have no expectations to use any AI tools and our CISO said the other day that he’s hard blocking Claude code.
I would be happy if all AI disappeared, but I’ll lightly use the tools to support my work since they’re there. I don’t use it for code generation but will sometimes accept auto complete comments.
Its always fascinating that most devs aren’t more frustrated about the wholesale theft of their jobs and things code produced.
Doubly so when it’s all done with the intention of making you obsolete
I’m frustrated with the fact that AI is replacing a lot of junior positions, and with people that use it to fully automate tasks. It does not bode well for the future of the industry.
I’m not a junior dev though, and I use AI as a tool, which is what it is, to plan changes, search for potential issues while I check something else, then review their output and so on. The premise is that I do understand our code very well, and that I know exactly what must be done when proposing changes. It helps me autocomplete while I write, check hard to find docs or write/format doc pages. I always search for actual real sources before committing anything.
It’s a tool, it would be crazy to keep using a hatchet because chainsaws sometimes injure people. With proper training and knowledge a chainsaw helps you work faster.
Now, there was no LLM when I was a junior Dev so I acknowledge that my position is a bit of “f u I got mine”, but we can’t deny that it’s a very useful tool that helps in coding
Still completely against and very frustrated with the full automation and erasure of junior positions though. It won’t affect me that much personally, but the industry will hurt, individuals will suffer and that’s horrible.
You’re right. That is a very “fuck you got mine” position to take.
I will say I have 3 friends, all senior devs. 2 got laid off this month. It doesn’t affect you until it does.
I’m not taking that position, I’m taking the position of acknowledging how badly it is being used while also taking point on how useful for Devs it is. I was acknowledging the position I am in due to my life in coding work, to give proper context.
You are in an Australian server, I didn’t know that the American AI Dev erasure craze had expanded there, it definitely is affective the Spanish junior positions, but in my data engineering sector, senior positions are permanently lacking.
In any case, I’m sorry for your friends, but I’d be surprised if they don’t find another job fast. Job offers in my country for senior positions have not been reduced, and given that junior positions are being reduced and seniors eventually retire, I don’t see enough reduction to fill the vacuum that the lack of junior is going to create in senior fields.
Mind you, I’m not saying this to say I don’t care, it’s actually the opposite. I’m saying this to say that I care even though I don’t think it will affect me personally in a risk my paycheck kinda way.
Linters have existed for a long time. They were the original AI that generated code. Using AI to supplement work in a similar manner isn’t replacing devs. Being able to search for answers like one would Google only not needing to leave your IDE and having it be semi context aware is not what’s replacing devs. Trash like Claude code and people that are generating entire dogshit apps is what’s replacing devs. I’m not defending the latter, just explaining the “centrist” approach to using AI.
In general, I hate AI. I wish it would all go away, but it’s not going to. If every other dev is using AI in their workflow and you aren’t, you’re falling behind in production, which in the business world is the only thing that matters, or you’re a great dev and don’t make mistakes where searching Claude for answers is faster than searching the web.
If you don’t like AI tools, then don’t use them. While it’s there and a sunk cost, I’m going to use it for help when I need it. I can still be critical of it but understand it’s here to stay, so I adapt.
Linters have existed for a long time. They were the original AI that generated code. Using AI to supplement work in a similar manner isn’t replacing devs.
So I’vw never used a linter that generates code. I’ve used them to enforce code styles but never to generate code. And code generation isn’t really the point there.
Second. AI isn’t replacing devs? The massive layoffs in the tech sector would disagree. Its also not “dogshit apps”. Google claims 90% of their code is generated and Microsoft claims 30% both come coupled with massive layoffs. To be fair Microsoft is kinda dogshit and Google search sucks now. But googles apps remain higher quality.
If the centrist argument is just to shrug and say “I guess we’re stuck with it”. I guess I’d say you aren’t a centrist and are a tacit supporter of ai.
I didn’t say AI isn’t replacing devs. I specifically mentioned stuff like Claude code and people that generate complete apps from AI. That work is dog shit. Using it as a glorified search engine is not the same thing. You’re strawmaning this argument by selectively picking words without context from my response. Debate in good faith or don’t respond.
Its not like you can have one without the other. But I’ve found that people demanding responses in “good faith” are rarely engaged in it themselves.
The comment you reaponsed to asked why you aren’t more angry about it. And you responded in support, without any reason why you wouldn’t be mad, and also that it was only taking “bad” jobs.
But I specifically mentioned work at microsoft and Google which aren’t “dog shit”.
Or AI usage might become too expensive as energy costs rise, datacenter equipment becomes more expensive, monopolies emerge, investor funding dries up.
Putting all ethical concerns aside, the bad code written by ClaudeGPT could also finally cause a software quality decrease and explode in the faces of the companies using them, making any velocity gains dubious. Services may also start enshittifying.
There’s also the legal aspect which is not fully settled. The dependence on US companies which might not remain OK forever in the rest of the world.
It is to be noted that, while programmers and executives are claiming they see gains, the science is not settled. Studies so far seem to indicate the contrary is observed in practice, although it remains to be seen if it stays that way in the future because, apparently, results got way better with Claude Whatever 4.6.
I’m not predicting a collapse, just saying these are plausible scenarios. And if any of them comes true, even if there’s no collapse, there will be a spot for actual software engineers that refused to use it all along and remained sharp, and they won’t be “left in the dust”.
It sure is a bad time to get into webdev though as a LLM-skeptic. You really have to choose your jobs to avoid writing code millions of developers wrote before, because there’s a good chance you’re working on something nobody needs and/or that slop machines can do it faster than you.
Just like human code generation, you need to review what’s being generated.
AI can speed up the writing of code but humans need to review it. Even if it’s always right humans doing a review will help generate new useful ideas for future improvements. Having AI do everything isn’t good, but using it to augment the process is incredible.
If you have AI generate all of your code, you’re going to have a bad time
I agree with “all”, but the percentage AI can do usefully is increasing quickly and depends a lot on your having written down and documented everything the super-smart-sometimes-hallucinating new employee needs to know.
A lot of the major companies are trying to “embrace” AI. Anyone saying percentages is full of shit. And anyone claiming they got fired for refusing to use AI is also full of shit, they got fired for other reasons, which much have been screaming “I’ll never use AI you fucks!” Haha
Regarding the industry as a whole, AI is a big thing. You need to know how to use it correctly to (hopefully) produce quality code. This is a really rough time in the industry, for many reasons not at all related to AI. The economy is shit, globally. There is a lot of uncertainty, globally. Jobs are absolutely not secure. I’ve been laid off 3 times since 2020. And no, I wasn’t the only layoff. One company got rid of all their IT staff save for the IT director and one (overworked) support technician.
If you’re asking because you want to go into software as a career…………… don’t. Go into healthcare.
You’re lucky it hasn’t happened to you. Yet. I never was a “I’ll never use AI you fucks” type person, more of a “AI written code is not trustworthy by default and should be subject to human review, especially if it touches critical systems, to ensure it’s secure and won’t just blindly wipe out production” type. Even that didn’t agree with their stance.
My former boss literally said to me “AI is so advanced that you do not need to see the code to write it anymore”. That is not true, willfully ignorant, and the equivalent of slamming on the gas on the freeway and closing your eyes. Fuck anyone who believes that.
Well, I don’t have a problem using AI. But I also don’t work for big tech companies with the kind of culture who push it on you. Also, I’m collecting an unemployment check after being laid off because the company can’t afford two developers anymore. So I dunno how lucky I am.
Your former boss is an idiot! Haha
He is! He vibe coded a shitty app, got it on the App Store, and then fancied himself a bona fide developer without having any recent training or experience.
What does his app do? 🤣
It’s since been taken down for who knows what reason, but it was a basic network troubleshooting app. Pings, traceroutes, ASN lookups, that sort of thing. Really simple stuff that a dev with actual experience could probably cobble together in a weekend. He took months prompting Claude.
Healthcare IT is still ok, but seriously DON’T be an actual healthcare worker. Your basically a slave with 5-6 figure college debt
Strong disagree. Getting your BSN is not 6 figures. It also far more stable than tech. There will always be sick people, the world is not getting healthier on average.
Going into software development in 2026 is a gamble. Being a nurse is not.
I am graduating next month 🥲. A little too late for me to switch careers
Well… good luck. I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’ll work for your salary. ;)
I’m still writing 90% of my code by hand at work. I think if you have total or close to total mastery in your domain, you should probably work faster than AI.
It takes a while for AI to generate code (Opus is pretty slow) and then you have to go review it and do rounds and rounds of fixes. It might be faster to use AI if there were unknowns or if you werent quite sure how to write the code. Otherwise I just find it faster to write it myself.
That being said I do use AI under some soecific circumstances:
- im working in a code base or area of code im unfamiliar with
- Im working in a language in unfamiliar with
- prototyping ideas
- generating boilerplate heavy code
For 1. And 2. I dont usually have ai write code for me. I would just ask it questions like “how do I write X in an idiomatic way in language Y”.
For 3, I have it generate code that I then toss and rewrite if the prototype works.
For 4, this is rare in a good code base. Most of the boiler plate heavy code at work is in unit tests.
I’ve been wary of all those use cases. If I’m unfamiliar with the code base, the language, or have a vague plan then I focus on getting understanding first; AI gives false confidence and I can’t check it’s work if I don’t understand what I’m doing. I’ve never written much boilerplate code as I use templates, written by humans, when starting a new project. The idea of starting from a slop codebase isn’t appealing as you need a good foundation.
Not there yet at my company, but management is starting to shove AI down the throats of the more senior engineers at first. I’ve definitely heard of companies where they strictly push for as much AI as possible which is just completely self destructive and delusional.
It sucks that we have to use this crap even if we don’t want it or need it just because the suits see the line go up (even if the line is completely made up of garbage code that will explode one day), but that doesn’t mean you should quit the field. There’s still plenty work to be done, and that will probably go upwards as the symptoms of reckless AI usage start showing up.
The work is worse by all means, you are encouraged or forced to work in a way that strips all enjoyment away, you are forced to nitpick code made by others that you know vibe coded the entire thing, and fixing tons of stupid as hell bugs that a human would probably not make. But still, it takes an actual engineer that knows what they’re doing to be able to clean up that mess and do some actual engineering.
What I fear the most is what comes after the pre-AI senior engineers start leaving or going to retirement, and you’re left with engineers who finished their degrees without ever truly diving into details like one would before AI, starting jobs without learning properly and picking up all the domain knowledge.
