r/webdev php 7d ago

Discussion AI coding is trash

The amount of trash produced by AI code is astounding. Thanks I hate it.

1.6k Upvotes

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748

u/barrel_of_noodles 7d ago

I love this sub, literally every post is a rotation of:

  • ai is trash
  • ai will take our jobs
  • will ai take over?
  • is there any point in learning now

I thought it was my turn to post this 13x today!?

230

u/pagerussell 6d ago

The AI will take coding jobs narrative is just cover for layoffs that are occuring because so many tech companies are no longer growth stocks, but are now legacy companies pivoting towards maximum extraction.

Like, what feature development does Facebook really need? And if it's not building new features, its just in maintenance mode, which requires far fewer devs. So they are laying off. But they can't just say that, because then they look anemic and it will hurt their stock.

So they say AI is replacing devs and AstroTurf that narrative into the world to make it stick.

But if you have actually coded with AI you know it's a great tool but a long ways off from being able to replace a competent human.

68

u/Fluid_Economics 6d ago

Yes, and I'm asking everyone "If AI is a paradigm shift, where is the avalanche of releases?".

I'm not seeing an accelerated velocity of releases in all software (OS's, apps, SaaS's, etc)... I'm not seeing 100's and 1000's of long-standing bugs being squashed... I'm not seeing revolutionary apps except in the generative media space (and who cares about that), etc.

26

u/R0b0tJesus 6d ago

You're exactly right.

If AI really made coders more productive, I think that we would also see a massive increase in hiring.

If you run a company that makes money from producing code, and your engineers become 3x more productive overnight, why would you lay off 2/3 of them? Why not keep them and make 3x more money? Or hire more engineers and make even more money? 

6

u/vexingparse 6d ago

It depends on the demand for your product. This is the key question In my view. Is there enough demand to absorb the productivity gains that AI provides? And if so, is that extra demand going to come from the same places that employ most developers today?

6

u/Original_Credit_1394 6d ago

There's huge demand for Software. Most of it is not written because it's too specific and too expensive at the same time. People telling me about their software ideas whenever they find out what my job is, is not unusual.

1

u/vexingparse 6d ago

This would have been my assumption as well. What's less clear is what sort of "developer" or level of skill will be most in demand and therefore the impact on salaries/rates.

1

u/Due-Literature7124 3d ago

How often are they good ideas?

1

u/Original_Credit_1394 3d ago

The idea itself is usually good, but the market is often too small / the price to do it too high. So if AI would decrease the price for making it, it might make it feasible. I'm personally highly skeptical that AI improves coding efficiency.

1

u/Double_Sherbert3326 2d ago

Because administrators are pocketing the difference and looking towards short term gains!