I Let AI Write Most of My Code. Here's What I Still Had to Do.

AI can write code surprisingly fast.

It can generate functions, create API endpoints, write tests, explain unfamiliar code, and even help fix bugs.

So I started asking myself:

If AI can write most of the code, what is the developer actually doing?

After using AI more seriously in my development workflow, I think the answer is more interesting than "developers will be replaced."

AI is very good at writing code

For many everyday tasks, AI is faster than I am.

For example:

• Writing boilerplate
• Creating API endpoints
• Generating database queries
• Writing unit tests
• Converting code between languages
• Explaining unfamiliar libraries
• Creating documentation
• Finding obvious bugs

Instead of spending 30 minutes writing repetitive code, I can often get a useful first version in a few minutes.

That's a huge productivity improvement.

But there is a problem.

The first version is rarely the final version

AI can give you code that looks correct.

That's not the same as code that actually belongs in your application.

The developer still needs to answer questions like:

• Is this architecture appropriate?
• What happens when the input is unexpected?
• Is this secure?
• Will this scale?
• Is the database query efficient?
• What happens when the external API fails?
• Is this code maintainable six months from now?
• Does this actually solve the user's problem?

These questions are much harder than generating a function.

Debugging becomes even more important

One thing I have noticed is that AI makes debugging more interesting.

When AI generates 200 lines of code in seconds, you can also get 200 lines of bugs in seconds.

The ability to understand why something doesn't work becomes extremely valuable.

You still need to read the stack trace.

You still need to understand the data flow.

You still need to inspect the database.

You still need to understand the system.

And sometimes you need to tell the AI:

"No. Your approach is wrong. Let's rethink the architecture."

That's still engineering.

The developer's job is changing

I don't think AI eliminates software engineering.

I think it changes where our time goes.

Before:

text
Idea
  ↓
Write code
  ↓
Debug
  ↓
Test
  ↓
Deploy