060: 10x Developer, or 10x Distraction? A Reality Check on AI
The message is everywhere: LLMs are here to make us 10x more productive and change software development forever. Venture capitalists are pouring billions into the vision, and big tech companies are pushing hard for us to adopt the tools. But as a software engineer who’s seen the demos and lived the reality, something feels profoundly wrong.
This week, I’m taking a step back to reflect on the current state of our industry. We'll explore the inconvenient truth that often gets lost in the hype: that relying on AI can sometimes make us slower, introduce more technical debt, and even erode the fundamental skills that make us valuable.
But maybe the real problem isn't the technology itself. Maybe it's that we're looking for a quick fix for a deeper issue. Join me as we discuss what really drives developer productivity, the crucial importance of domain knowledge, and whether anyone is even considering the quality of life for the people building our systems.
Because while the "going from 0 to 1" demo is impressive, our jobs are about maintaining complex systems from 1 to 1000. And maybe, just maybe, an agentic flow that doesn't care about our codebase isn't the real solution we need.
p.s. And yes, I used LLM to improve my description draft ;)
This week, I’m taking a step back to reflect on the current state of our industry. We'll explore the inconvenient truth that often gets lost in the hype: that relying on AI can sometimes make us slower, introduce more technical debt, and even erode the fundamental skills that make us valuable.
But maybe the real problem isn't the technology itself. Maybe it's that we're looking for a quick fix for a deeper issue. Join me as we discuss what really drives developer productivity, the crucial importance of domain knowledge, and whether anyone is even considering the quality of life for the people building our systems.
Because while the "going from 0 to 1" demo is impressive, our jobs are about maintaining complex systems from 1 to 1000. And maybe, just maybe, an agentic flow that doesn't care about our codebase isn't the real solution we need.
p.s. And yes, I used LLM to improve my description draft ;)
Creators and Guests
Host
Dominic St-Pierre
Go system builder - entrepreneur. I've been writing software systems since 2001. I love SaaS, building since 2008.
