10 issues I discovered from burning myself out with AI coding brokers
When you’ve ever used a 3D printer, it’s possible you’ll recall the wondrous feeling if you first printed one thing you would have by no means sculpted or constructed your self. Obtain a mannequin file, load some plastic filament, push a button, and virtually like magic, a three-dimensional object seems. However the outcome isn’t polished and prepared for mass manufacturing, and making a novel form requires extra expertise than simply pushing a button. Apparently, in the present day’s AI coding brokers really feel a lot the identical method.
Since November, I’ve used Claude Code and Claude Opus 4.5 by means of a private Claude Max account to extensively experiment with AI-assisted software program improvement (I’ve additionally used OpenAI’s Codex in an analogous method, although not as ceaselessly). Fifty initiatives later, I’ll be frank: I’ve not had this a lot enjoyable with a pc since I discovered BASIC on my Apple II Plus once I was 9 years outdated. This opinion comes not as an endorsement however as private expertise: I voluntarily undertook this undertaking, and I paid out of pocket for each OpenAI and Anthropic’s premium AI plans.
All through my life, I’ve dabbled in programming as a utilitarian coder, writing small instruments or scripts when wanted. In my net improvement profession, I wrote some small instruments from scratch, however I primarily modified different individuals’s code for my wants. Since 1990, I’ve programmed in BASIC, C, Visible Primary, PHP, ASP, Perl, Python, Ruby, MUSHcode, and a few others. I’m not an knowledgeable in any of those languages—I discovered simply sufficient to get the job executed. I’ve developed my very own pastime video games through the years utilizing BASIC, Torque Recreation Engine, and Godot, so I’ve some thought of what makes structure for a modular program that may be expanded over time.
Claude Code, Codex, and Google’s Gemini CLI, can seemingly carry out software program miracles on a small scale. They will spit out flashy prototypes of straightforward functions, person interfaces, and even video games, however solely so long as they borrow patterns from their coaching knowledge. Very similar to a 3D printer, doing production-level work takes much more effort. Creating sturdy manufacturing code, managing a posh undertaking, or crafting one thing really novel nonetheless requires expertise, endurance, and ability past what in the present day’s AI brokers can present on their very own.
