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Simon Willison1 min readintermediate

Quoting voxium

Summary

A new engineer observes that a big company's reliance on AI for all artifacts (code, specs, tickets) leads to human bottlenecks. Despite AI generating everything, engineers work long hours because nobody understands the output, making the team slow.

  • AI-generated artifacts don't automatically improve human understanding or team velocity.
  • Over-reliance on AI can lead to engineers "pressing enter" without comprehension.
  • The bottleneck shifts from code generation to human integration and understanding.
  • Long working hours don't equate to productivity if the core issue is lack of comprehension.

Engineers and managers integrating AI into their workflows should care, as it highlights the critical human element often overlooked when focusing solely on AI output volume.

4/10

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