There's a lot of good descriptions and observations on this article. But I don't like this language that just assumes we all use AI, we've all pulled away from the code. It all seems to be part of the collective brainwashing and psychosis that says "it's a new age now, everyone is doing it this way."
> It’s less coding than it used to be, or a different kind of coding. More describing and steering and deciding, less typing the actual lines.
Lots of us are still coding. A lot of the beloved infrastructure all these vibe-coded rocket rides are built with is still being hand coded by humans who care and want to build solid, good things.
You are right! Not everyone is using AI for coding. I see your point.
But I also disagree with your claim saying agentic coding is nay less of care or less engineering.
I have 13 years of industry experience and was doing hand coding with vim. But I adapted agentic coding which I believe is very empowering
Your comment is as empty as the prose from am LLM. I worry about the level of discourse LLMs train us to accept as normal. Assuming, of course, that this is even human-written.
> I watch engineers pick up design so the thing looks good and feels good, not just runs. The work pulls you into the parts you used to hand to someone else. We’re all stretching wider than we trained for. Whatever the work needs, we learn it.
Even back to the mid-90's I've always approached projects like this -- soup to nuts, all the way from idea to conception to creative ideation to implementation to digital life!
I also used to assume everybody did lol, until I worked long enough professionally to watch the landscape subdivide like a fractal into what we have now.
There's a LOT of bad shit to be said about AI coding, but I also have this feeling that something about it all is rekindling that ancient one-man-band approach that can actually work if you're able to play all the instruments. Really interested to see what comes of it once the breathless hype dies down a little bit.
Wow, you’re speaking my mind.
I’ve been thinking the same thing. AI makes it possible for us to be generalists again. One person, or a small team of generalists, can create and build things in a more human way, with everyone putting a piece of their soul into it.
It lets us be more involved, have more impact, and not just be one tiny cog in a huge machine, working on a small piece you can barely identify with in the bigger picture.
I like the AI images, the style is nice and is well executed especially the mirror reflection one, it accurately, well, reflects what pet projects become. But, I disagree that they're monstrous just because they get big.
They can be monstrous cos they can take my job which means my money and identity partially
I find it baffling when people complain about this like AI use is mandatory.
You explored agentic coding, didn't like losing control to vibes, so stop doing it.
The beauty of pet projects is that they are yours to define, you set the terms, if you dont like how agentic coding played out then just dont do it?
You're not under pressure to ship, youre not being forced by a manager, this is yours : so own it. The only "pressure" you are under is the pressure in your mind that youre getting from sitting on social media drinking hype juice all day, the lesson here is the motto of the royal society - Nullis in verba- THINK FOR YOURSELF
They'll become cattle projects you don't know the names of.
Like an LLM listening to you curse at software, fixing it/creating extensions etc., installing them, and you're not even aware.
I can relate to this, and the point about costs resonated with me in particular. I wonder how this will evolve in the future and how soon.
AI slop text, AI slop graphics, and a particularly obnoxious "oh well everyone's using AI now, no-one writes any more because they don't need to" tone.
Absolute trash.
Please can we have a filter to keep the AI slop - and all the metaslop around it, articles about the guts of LLMs - off the feed?
It's the hate language of someone who still has not learned how to use AI.
I use AI everywhere in my workflow and I spend quite a few hour writing and creating the arts.
...and it shows in the quality.