Some uncomfortable truths about AI coding agents

Re:Some uncomfortable truths about AI coding agents by stavros on Saturday March 28, 2026 @01:04PM (#47556420)

Does the thing work like I want it in the end? Is it fast, reliable, enjoyable to use, maintainable, cheap, efficient, resilient, etc?

If so, I don't care if I wrote it by hand or with an LLM. People who think that building something with an LLM somehow dooms the something to mediocrity are engaging in magical thinking. I can simply use as much or as little LLM as will allow me to meet my quality criteria.

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Re:Some uncomfortable truths about AI coding agents by frizlab on Saturday March 28, 2026 @01:16PM (#47556535)

You forgot maintainable.

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Re:Some uncomfortable truths about AI coding agents by stavros on Saturday March 28, 2026 @01:20PM (#47556571)

Added a few more adjectives and an "etc", to cover all pedantic bases that don't matter to my argument.

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Re:Some uncomfortable truths about AI coding agents by maplethorpe on Saturday March 28, 2026 @07:09PM (#47558882)

You listed "maintainable", but how do you know your project is maintainable, if you yourself have no understanding of the code base? Presumably the reason is that the AI has managed to maintain the project so far, so it follows that it will be able to do so in the future. But that's not a given. It's more of a prayer.

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