AI coding tools are getting crazy good.
They can read your project, understand multiple files, write code, modify existing code, run commands, inspect the database, and even make changes to your application.
So naturally, I started wondering:
Are developers becoming less important?
Then Antigravity gave me a very small reminder that maybe the answer isn't that simple.
The normal experience
This is what the AI coding environment normally looks like while I'm working:
You have the editor on the left and the AI panel on the right.
You can ask the AI to do something like:
"Add Razorpay payment integration and create a demo account fallback."
The AI starts working.
It explores the project.
It reads files.
It runs commands.
It thinks about the implementation.
It modifies the application.
Honestly, it's impressive.
It feels less like autocomplete and more like having another developer sitting next to you.
Then something funny happened
At some point, the AI needed permission to perform an action.
And the UI changed to something like this:
The AI was waiting for me.
There were approval options.
But for a moment, I was just looking at the screen thinking:
"Okay... what exactly am I supposed to do here?"
😂
The funny part is that we're using an AI development tool capable of navigating a project and working with our application...
but the human developer is suddenly confused about how to interact with the AI.
And then I discovered the easiest solution
Press Enter.
That's it.
I didn't need to write code.
I didn't need to debug anything.
I didn't need to ask the AI another question.
I just needed to press:
Enter
And the AI continued.
😂
But this tiny thing made me think about something bigger
At first, this was just funny.
But then I started thinking about how we talk about AI replacing developers.
We often imagine the future like this:
AI writes the code → application is built → developer is no longer needed.
But real software development isn't that clean.
There are always little things happening around the code.
Someone has to understand the environment.
Someone has to understand what the AI is doing.
Someone has to decide whether an action should be allowed.
Someone has to notice when something doesn't make sense.
And sometimes...
someone has to figure out that pressing Enter will continue the process.
AI can write code. Developers solve problems.
This is where I think the role of a developer is changing.
Previously, a lot of our time was spent writing code manually.
Now I can ask AI to generate a component.
I can ask it to create an API.
I can ask it to modify a database query.
I can ask it to investigate an error.
I can ask it to explore an unfamiliar part of the project.
That doesn't make my job disappear.
It changes what I spend my time doing.
Instead of only asking:
"How do I write this code?"
I'm increasingly asking:
"What should actually happen here?"
"Is this implementation correct?"
"What could this break?"
"Why did the AI choose this approach?"
"Is this safe to run?"
"What happens in production?"
Those questions are much more difficult to automate.
And then there is UX
There was another thing I noticed from this experience.
AI tools can be incredibly sophisticated internally.
But that doesn't mean every part of their user experience is perfect.
For example, if an AI is asking me to approve something, I want the interaction to be immediately obvious.
Give me:
a clear approval button
a clear decline button
a visible keyboard shortcut
a comfortable scrollable area
an obvious indication that the AI is waiting for me
Because developers shouldn't have to guess how to operate the tool that is supposed to help them develop faster.
And that's not really an AI problem.
It's a developer experience problem.
This is where humans still matter
I don't think the future is going to be:
Humans vs AI
I think it's going to be:
Humans + AI
But there will be a difference between someone who simply accepts whatever AI generates and someone who actually understands what is happening.
Imagine two developers looking at the same AI-generated code.
Developer A:
"AI generated it, so it must be correct."
Developer B:
"Why did it do this? Is this compatible with our architecture? What happens if this API fails? What happens with existing users?"
The second developer gets much more value from AI.
Because AI becomes a multiplier for their knowledge, rather than a replacement for it.
Maybe AI won't replace developers. Maybe it will change what "developer" means.
I don't think we should ignore how powerful AI has become.
It absolutely will replace some repetitive development work.
It will change workflows.
It will reduce the amount of code humans manually write.
And developers who refuse to learn these tools may eventually find themselves slower than developers who use them effectively.
But there's something AI still doesn't magically give you:
judgment.
Knowing what should happen.
Knowing what shouldn't happen.
Knowing when the generated code is wrong.
Knowing what to investigate.
Knowing what question to ask next.
Knowing when the problem isn't the code at all.
And sometimes...
knowing that the solution is simply:
"Press Enter." 😂
The irony
We're building tools where AI can:
read our code
understand our project
modify files
run commands
interact with our development environment
and help build applications
And yet, sometimes the most important developer contribution is:
"Wait... where is the button?"
😂
And honestly, I think that's okay.
Because software development has never been only about typing code.
It's about understanding problems and figuring things out.
AI is getting much better at the first part of implementation.
Developers still need to own the outcome.
Final thought
Maybe the wrong question is:
"Will AI replace developers?"
Maybe the better question is:
"When AI can write the code, what makes someone a good developer?"
For me, I'm starting to think the answer is:
Not just knowing how to write code.
It's knowing how to think, question, debug, evaluate, and figure things out when things don't go exactly as expected.
Even if the unexpected problem is just...
an AI tool waiting for you to press Enter. 🤖😂
Top comments (2)
it also happened to me
Looks like a universal issue 😃