it's also plausible that with an ability to generate as much code as we want with little effort, we will quickly discover how much code we actually need, and then plateau at that point.
Personally, I think we've already reached that point.
Even at YC, I have not really seen any startup doing anything interesting where their main value prop is enabled by new proprietary code that does stuff no one else can already do.
Re:Why Write Code in 2026
by walt_grata on Sunday July 12, 2026 @07:34PM
(#48885978)
We have more code than we need. Proof for me is every "smart" device that worked better before we put a computer in it.
Exactly, this is the true problem with the world today: too much code.
Are teleprompters a net positive achievement? They were needed for live television, they will be superseded I guess by AI generated news avatars. And 24-hour news coverage is in the business of generating content non-stop, to sell advertisements, regardless if there are newsworthy events or not, the machine never stops producing.
It’s also a bit ironic to imagine that we’re at the end of new software ideas on a site owned(?) by YC.