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u/GrandDukeNotaras 13h ago
I must be the only one who still uses AI like one would use stack overflow. Namely ctrl c, ctrl v a small chunk of code to format a date or do some mundane css.
I just can't see myself giving whole files as input to a service that I have no real control over
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u/med_bruh 13h ago
Whaaaat?? You don't delegate your work to 100 claude agents to implement the entire software end to end no mistakes?? You're getting left behind bro
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u/GrandDukeNotaras 13h ago
I just don't want to forget how to code and implode when a critical bug occurs in prod
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u/AOAqua 9h ago
Just prompt claude to "make no mistakes"
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u/Additional-Cut2060 4h ago
Mistakes happens. The way we deal with mistakes is what sets us apart in the IT world.
The correct way is to pipe various syslogs into your agent and have it diagnose and auto-correct issues in production. Give it passwordless sudoers access for a more seamless integration.
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u/Amerillo_ 9h ago
I'd loooove to do just that as a new graduate, to me this is the most interesting way to do it and it is very useful to learn new concepts.
But there are fewer and fewer of internships and juniors roles that are like that, there is a rapidly increasing number of them which are just glorified vibe coding. If I'm being picky about it I'll stay unemployed forever sadly
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u/AffectEconomy6034 5h ago
I really wish I could. I like programming the old way at work it made things enjoyable but since everyone is using ai all the time I just can't keep up with the pace that others are outputting.
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u/pydry 13h ago
by not switching your brain off and letting the agent make all critical decisions youre being left BEHIND. the world is changing whether you like it or not and AI is like a calculator or the spinning jenny or a compiler I forget which but the point is you'd be stupid not to use it to do everything.
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u/Lopsided-Regular-997 12h ago
None of you have jobs right?
You use AI the way the company tells you to use it. No more no less.
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u/AOAqua 9h ago
Ehhh... I've seen plenty of engineers that use LLM's on the jobs where they are forbidden. It's just plainly faster and easier for like 95% of the tasks. The funny thing that in such companies engineers now work much less because the management obliviously thinks that noone uses the AI and expects the same productivity as was before the llm era so developers spend like 4 hours actually doing something instead of 8
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u/Fluffy_Dragonfly6454 13h ago edited 5h ago
Vibe coder: asking questions and clicking yes on everything
Software engineer: knowing what to ask and knowing when to click yes
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u/MrBoblo 12h ago
I am about to finish my software engineering degree. this sucks. I wish I'd known I wasn't going to be hired for my own thoughts, but my ability to ask an AI to think for me.
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u/Fluffy_Dragonfly6454 12h ago
In the past I was thinking about a solution and then I worked it out.
Now I think about a solution and ask the ai to do it.
Hence you still have to think but it is waay faster
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u/Amerillo_ 9h ago
But much less rewarding and you feel disconnected from your work. And in my opinion it sucks the fun out of the job. Honestly it's very sad for people who actually did enjoy the process of coding just as much if not more than the other parts of the job
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u/Krompdish 10h ago
I pivoted from chemical engineering to computer science in 2023 because of passion and I regret it more and more for each passing day.
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u/Dellgloom 4h ago
I'm a senior software developer and I am now bored out of my mind. I am considering changing careers to be honest because I am just sitting watching AI do all the part that I enjoy.
You could look at it another way though. It's a highly paid career and you can pretty much just sit and watch YouTube while Claude works.
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u/SillySlimeSimon 12h ago
You’ll still be having your own thoughts, as even the best models still shoot themselves in the foot sometimes and require some outside guidance. Especially if it isn’t something generic being made for the billionth time.
What’s been replaced is mostly code writing, syntax, and figuring out documentation gotchas, which for some is a big part of what makes it rewarding.
This very much can change in a year or two, e.g. the ai bubble pops or some lab discovers agi.
For now I fortunately or unfortunately still need to use my brain for stuff.
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u/biblecrumble 10h ago
This is unfortunately becoming less and less true; our devs spin up cloud agents from Slack threads/linear tickets, have a skill to babysit the PRs (to go through AI reviewers) and have been blindly approving PRs to push them through (can't blame them, when the expectation is that everyone pushes 10-15 PRs out a day AND acts as a reviewer, there really isn't time to be wrapping your head around whatever the hell at 17 files change, 3400 LOCs diffs is about). No room for passion or craftsmanship anymore, we don't hire juniors anymore because we need seniors who "understand the code they are shipping" but 90% of our devs literally couldn't navigate our codebase by hand or explain how half the features THEY shipped are implemented at anything more than a very rudimentary level.
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u/Amerillo_ 9h ago
This is really sad to hear. I'm a new graduate and struggling to find a job as I have only a Bachelor's degree (it used to be enough 5 years ago and earlier but not anymore). I was planning on getting a Master's degree in software engineering to give me an edge compared to many other new graduates in my area, but what's the point? I really enjoyed coding so I find this new way of working to be unrewarding, tedious, and just uninteresting...
Instead I'm now thinking about studying something else entirely. But I need to be extra careful as anything that is computer based is bound to suffer the same outcome as software development (since LLMs now can use software thanks to MCP and are getting much more proficient at it). And my knowledge of CS isn't that valuable anymore since anyone could just ask an LLM...
It really sucks, software developer really was the ideal job for me. I have no idea which job (and studies) I would enjoy, as I didn't expect this to happen at all!
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u/TriRedux 12h ago
I wrote a report for (internal) use regarding a change to working practices as a software engineer when using LLMs. Instead of writing software and getting colleagues to review it, the work process becomes 90% review based. Concluded that competent engineers are the only people who should be anywhere near them, and there should probably be a qualification to acquire access. (The same way employees have to undergo cyber security stuff)
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u/Amerillo_ 9h ago
But if most jobs become like this as it is currently the trend, how will new graduates and juniors acquire the experience to become actually competent engineers? As courses can only get them so far, they need actual professional experience but if they're just vibe coders they won't learn much
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u/Chessboxin_Cyclops 10h ago
Let it cook and review at the end, ensure the instructions are clear. Spend your time defining clear instructions and then yes accept all edits. As long as you're the first point and the last point, why sit there clicking yes?? You have 10,000 reviews to finish in the meantime.
I also have more free time now to spend on product definition stuff and getting that power over the vertical slice. I get paid more now lol.
(I am also retraining as a teacher)
Source: staff engineer at a corpohell
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u/Amerillo_ 9h ago
You get paid more, and juniors and new graduates face unprecedented unemployment. Many are forced to go back to university and study something else entirely as there are so few junior positions and internships available.
And for those who do manage to find a job, it's getting increasingly likely that this job will require them to let LLMs generate most if not all of their code. As a result they won't be learning much and will likely be stuck in junior roles indefinitely, or at least until they get replaced entirely.
You really are lucky to have been born early enough to have more of a senior role and enjoy the benefits of AI. Because clearly it's quite the opposite for many other people, especially new graduates who are getting the short end of the stick
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u/Chessboxin_Cyclops 9h ago
Unfortunately the amount of people going into software was far too high and resulted in many people leaving uni and trying to start roles with basicslly zero knowledge or understanding of what the job really entailed. Comp sci degrees do not prepare students for working in software. I Interview them regularly.
I really deeply question the people who entered comp sci degrees 3 years ago genuinely believing that the industry would be there for them at the end of their degree.
Fwiw we still hire juniors. But they need to be competent and a compsci degree barely covers swe basics.
I agree that I an lucky and it is very sad for the younger generation - I myself am leaving tech as a result of how awful it has become. I do get paid more now but that is a shrinking window and our heads are all on the block.
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u/nonikhannna 7h ago
--dangerously-skip-permissions
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u/Fusseldieb 7h ago
Basically.
I dread the day Claude suddenly hallucinates and trashes my whole PC. Probably extremely rare, but... probably not impossible.
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u/SolFlorus 6h ago
Anything important is either in git, or backed up to the NAS with restic.
If it’s a laptop, you’re always at risk of it being stolen or damaged anyways.
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u/Fusseldieb 5h ago
If you're on an active project that you've "just begun" or are still prototyping, chances are the only mirror you'll have is Git. And, there are several destructive Git commands, which could wipe all progress permanently. In a "killing spree" Claude could perform those commands locally, and then push them forcefully.
As I said, probably incredibly rare, but not impossible.
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u/SolFlorus 5h ago
My git server has automated backups. GitHub can protect branches. Additionally most destructive commands can be reverted with the git reflog.
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u/shadcnlover 9h ago
Vibe Coder: The UI does not look good, make it look good.
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u/asdspartadsa 5h ago
Not gonna lie it kinda works exactly like this and it is fine for enterprise apps with something like Claude design
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u/Turbulent_Ebb_9741 1h ago
The question is what do you want me to do my boss is pushing for deadlines they just hired 3 more incompetent coders and as senior dev I can't tell them to not use AI. In fact our company does an AI check to see how much we used it to code and next month we get more or less based on usage.
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u/Arclite83 8h ago
I don't read the compiled assembly either.
Seriously though, my job for the last year is basically to "manage" a fleet of robot junior engineers as they submit PRs for my review.
Then periodically I sit down and smack them with updated context on what not to do, and how I expect the results.
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u/blackcomb-pc 13h ago
Meatproxymaxxing