Article URL: https://sam.sutch.net/posts/a-grumpy-ai-screed Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48953924 Points: 42 # Comments: 33

Every line of every pull request? Slop. Every word of every pull request description? Slop. Every code review comment? Slop. Every technical design document? Slop. Every ticket description? Slop. Every graphical design spec? Slop. I know I’m not alone in this experience. From what I can ascertain by discussing with peers, looking over shoulders at my co-working space, and participating in online forums is that this is nearly every software engineer’s daily life now. In many organizations 100% of their software engineering practice is slop. Even leadership decisions are informed in large part by slop. Slop marketing, slop emails, slop announcements, slop roadmaps. The roadmaps are at least 50% slop, at this point. I’ve been a software developer/engineer/entrepreneur for 20 years. For most of that time, it was an actual daily pleasure to do my job. Even if I was having a rough few weeks, I could always be coaxed back into it (nerdsniped?) by working on something I was proud of. Even at the truly soulless larger companies I’ve worked for, there’s always been an interesting problem to solve, somewhere. Recently, however, the use of AI code generation has become non optional in most of the software engineering world. It’s made this job an absolute slog. For people who enjoyed the craft, there’s little enjoyment to be derived from waiting for a coding bot to push some code for you. It’s novel, sure, but the novelty wears off quickly, especially once you realize there’s no way back. One suggestion I’ve heard from people is that “if it’s so upsetting, then just don’t use it.” Let’s be realistic. To firmly opt out is a professionally nonviable option at this point, both from a cultural and a performative standpoint. You will stand out in a negative way in most circles. Either by your “attitude” or by your meager (in comparison) pull request/line count. If you think there is a way to opt out professionally, I encourage you to go interview for any SWE job. Every company asks about your opinion on AI now as one of the first interviews. It's basically shorthand for determining whether you'll be difficult or not. If you want to remain employable, you better answer affirmatively and positively about embracing AI in your daily work. Another suggestion I’ve heard is to just write my own software, my own company, completely slop free. Unfortunately, some of what is being said about the new "cost of software" development is true. Good luck standing out universe filled with AI slop apps. Even Apple is eagerly releasing slopware now.