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The problem is not AI code, but not knowing about system architecture or intent

388 points · 240 comments · zazuke

  1. glouwbug · · focus · HN ↗
    When you write something you constantly remodel your understanding through refactors and rewrites until you internalize it. By internalizing it you gain the capacity to reason about it (during critical downtime) and communicate it. An entire team that can communicate can solve problems together, from one guy's vision to products white boarding to engineering's infrastructure to UX and UI's artistry.

    It boggles me we completely forgot that the world operated like this just 4 years ago

    1. cmrdporcupine · · focus · HN ↗
      I am simultaneously deep down in the agentic treadmill and also supremely frustrated by this.

      And I don't think it was ever necessary to go to the point where people just gave up authorship. These were choices made by adopting the "I'll do everything for you" agentic "harness" model that shipped with Claude Code but it was never inevitable.

      e.g. we completely dropped fill-in-the-middle completion OG CoPilot auto completion model. That combined AI authorship with a human always in the mix and I actually really enjoyed it. It's just that the models involved were pretty stupid. We totally could have had IDE / shell / tooling integration that kept people in the driver's seat while automating parts of the drudgery away. Instead what we got was a simple chat loop with "oh, whatever, you go do it" being the ultimate result. Cuz, you'll totally review everything after and understand it, right?

      The things should end by quizzing you on what was just made and if you don't pass, just throw it away. That'd be funny to watch.

      1. dannyw · · focus · HN ↗
        Our brains are hard-wired to enjoy (at least in the short term) immediate gratification, and the removal of friction. It's a hard battle to fight.
        1. d0mine · · focus · HN ↗
          Have you ever asked a long distance runner how are they feeling during a run?
          1. danielbln · · focus · HN ↗
            Long distance runner here, feels amazing from start to finish. Ok, amazing maybe only during runners high, but definitely good all the way through. Running sucks until it doesn't.
          2. kaffekaka · · focus · HN ↗
            Running (especially long distance) is both immediate and long term satisfaction to me. Exhausting but very enjoyable.
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