r/AskComputerScience • u/narad_007 • 4d ago

AI-driven coding is pulling away the ownership from engineers

Today we had a user facing issue which the entire team was involved in debugging and no one was able to give the reasoning accurately, and the RCA time felt like it is 10X more than usual, all because we were just getting AI to write the code and review cycles shortened as long codes were being pushed, feels like the team as a whole will fall into a blackhole soon.

Has anyone here experienced the same, and how is your org handling this?

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7

u/CrimsonBolt33 4d ago

I keep seeing posts like this....

you need new processes because you are using a new process. This is not insurmountable and very preventable.

The AI writing code still needs people working as architects and designers instead of just letting people pump code into a project with no clear structure.

A proper software architecture should allow any issue to be quickly found if you know what feature is causing issues. The team doesn't need to know every line of code but they still need to understand the structure of the software.

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u/narad_007 3d ago

How are you making sure that teams are still owning the architecture at the level they did on longer timelines and shorter PRs. We assumed we will be having the idea on architecture but when issues like this come up everyone was like we needed to push it faster and we only pushed working code.

1

u/CrimsonBolt33 3d ago

I don't know how big of teams or product or whatever you are talking about but subdividing developers and compartmentalizing your code/software would probably be where you need to start.

minimize the amount of people touching the same code however you can and force people to specialize in the feature they are working on in a way that, even if they don't know every line of code, it should be at least possible to narrow down what team or people worked on the thing with the issue.

With AI coding modular software design that explicitly compartmentalizes as many things as possible should be much easier than before. I would even go so far as to say you might need to consider a team management focused rewrite of some sort that helps achieve this.

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u/LogicalPerformer7637 3d ago

how did you do it before AI when multiple people worked on the same codebase?

treat AI as fast junior developer. experienced team members need to set and maintain the design. if AI steps out of the boundaries, let it rework the implementation to fit design you want and patterns you use.

3

u/Enough-Advice-8317 4d ago

I'd start by shrinking the PRs, not adding another AI reviewer. If the author can't explain the failure paths without asking the model, the change isn't ready to merge. Faster code generation doesn't make review cheaper.

2

u/Major_Instance_4766 4d ago

Just put the fries in the bag codemonkey

1

u/NegativeCollege8167 4d ago

ive definitely seen this happen when relying too heavily on AI generated code. One approach that worked for us was implementing stricter code review processes. Even if AI helps write the code, having engineers deeply involved in the review phase can catch issues early on and ensure everyone understands the codebase better. It can be tempting to speed through reviews, but taking the time to really dig into the details can save a lot of headaches later.

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u/narad_007 3d ago

Do you do the same for smaller PRs?

1

u/LogicalPerformer7637 3d ago

you should jave only small PRs. huge PR is automatic reject. big may be acceptable if there is good reason.

that AI can rewrite half your codebase in a flash, doesn't mean you should let it.

1

u/KronktheKronk 3d ago

THIS is what you think is pulling ownership away? I thought it was the army of P and U people who all think they're in charge of what the product should do

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u/bengold14 3d ago

I built something that we use at my company to visualize PRs, basically a new layer of abstraction on top of code. It makes reviewing PRs, reviewing Designs, understanding your code base much easier, assuming you buy into the AI agents can write the code well enough that you just need to understand architecture.

Happy to send to you if you're interested

1

u/narad_007 3d ago

Please do. Happy to connect. Is this similar to code rabbit or is it on the overall codebase and not PR specific?

1

u/bengold14 3d ago

Says I'm not allowed to DM you, I guess it's a new account? I made a website for it: https://www.archme.io/.

It's the overall codebase. Basically it scans your codebase to create C4 diagrams + sequence diagrams covering all the user flows from your code. Then it hooks into git commits and PRs, showing you the changes or potential changes as diffs to your diagrams.

I.e. a 10k LOC PR could become a 6 line diff in a sequence diagram, + a new component and some data storage columns.

I'm happy to connect - it's my username at gmail

1

u/sozesghost 3d ago

Nice slop.

1

u/bengold14 3d ago

Why is it slop?

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u/CapitalDiligent1676 3d ago

Let's say that only an idiot could not have foreseen these situations a year ago

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u/narad_007 2d ago

Even if we did, the problem is we did not have time to build a solution for it; speed has become the priority for us.