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    Survey: a third of senior developers say over half their code is AI-generated

    (www.fastly.com)
    214 points Brajeshwar | 17 comments | 31 Aug 25 14:55 UTC | HN request time: 0.298s | source | bottom
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    yodsanklai ◴[31 Aug 25 21:40 UTC] No.45087351[source]▶
    Seems about right for me (older developer at a big tech company). But we need to define what it means that the code is AI-generated. In my case, I typically know how I want the code to look like, and I'm writing a prompt to tell the agent to do it. The AI doesn't solve any problem, it just does the typing and helps with syntax. I'm not even sure I'm ultimately more productive.
    replies(6): >>45087633 #>>45087699 #>>45087883 #>>45089870 #>>45090395 #>>45090712 #
    1. ojosilva ◴[31 Aug 25 23:05 UTC] No.45087883[source]▶
    I didn't see much mention of tab-completions in the survey and comments here. To me that's the ultimate coding AI is doing at my end, even though it seems to pass unnoticed nowadays. It's massive LOC (and comments!), and that's were I find AI immensely productive.
    replies(3): >>45088063 #>>45088071 #>>45088217 #
    2. another_twist ◴[31 Aug 25 23:35 UTC] No.45088063[source]▶
    Tab completions simply hit the bottleneck problem. I dont want to press tab on every line it makes no sense. I would rather AI generate a function block and then integrate it back. Saves me the typing hassle and I can focus in design and business logic.
    3. ottah ◴[31 Aug 25 23:36 UTC] No.45088071[source]▶
    Don't you have to keep dismissing incorrect auto-complete? For me I have a particular idea in mind, and I find auto-complete to be incredibly annoying.

    It breaks flow. It has no idea my intention, but very eagerly provides suggestions I have to stop and swat away.

    replies(3): >>45088174 #>>45088190 #>>45091173 #
    4. verdverm ◴[31 Aug 25 23:55 UTC] No.45088174[source]▶
    fwiw, VS Code has a snooze auto complete button. Each press is 5m, a decently designed feature imo
    replies(1): >>45088536 #
    5. apt-apt-apt-apt ◴[31 Aug 25 23:57 UTC] No.45088190[source]▶
    Yeah, [autocomplete: I totally agree]

    it's so [great to have auto-complete]

    annoying to constantly [have to type]

    have tons of text dumped into your text area. Sometimes it looks plausibly right, but with subtle little issues. And you have to carefully analyze whatever it output for correctness (like constant code review).

    replies(1): >>45088246 #
    6. StrandedKitty ◴[01 Sep 25 00:02 UTC] No.45088217[source]▶
    Does it even fall into "AI-generated" category? GitHub Copilot has been around for years, I certainly remember using it long before the recent AI boom, and at that time it wasn't even thought of as any kind of a breakthrough.

    And at this point it's not just a productivity booster, it's as essential as using a good IDE. I feel extremely uncomfortable and slow writing any code without auto-completion.

    replies(1): >>45088436 #
    7. shiandow ◴[01 Sep 25 00:06 UTC] No.45088246{3}[source]▶
    That we're trying to replace entry/mediocre/expert level code writing with entry/mediocre/expert level code reading is one of the strangest aspects of this whole AI paradigm.

    There's literally no way I can see that resulting in better quality, so either that is not what is happening or we're in for a rude awakening at some point.

    replies(3): >>45088389 #>>45088734 #>>45089299 #
    8. gnerd00 ◴[01 Sep 25 00:41 UTC] No.45088389{4}[source]▶
    there is no "we" or at least not sufficiently differentiated. Another layer is inserted into .. everything? think MSFT Teams. Your manager's manager is being empowered.. you become a truck driver who must stay on the route, on schedule or be replaced.
    9. sramam ◴[01 Sep 25 00:53 UTC] No.45088436[source]▶
    I think there is a difference between type system or Language Server completions and AI generated completion.

    When the AI tab completion fills in full functions based on the function definition you have half typed, or completes a full test case the moment you start type - mock data values and all, that just feels mind-reading magical.

    replies(1): >>45089525 #
    10. rblatz ◴[01 Sep 25 01:12 UTC] No.45088536{3}[source]▶
    Copilot replacing intellisense is a huge shame. Why get actual auto complete when you can get completely hallucinated methods and properties instead.
    replies(1): >>45089659 #
    11. oblio ◴[01 Sep 25 01:55 UTC] No.45088734{4}[source]▶
    https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/26/reading-code-is-li...

    https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-... (read the bold text in the middle of the article)

    These articles are 25 years old.

    12. jcgrillo ◴[01 Sep 25 03:55 UTC] No.45089299{4}[source]▶
    This is how you know the "AI" proselytizers are completely full of shit. They're trying to bend the narrative with a totally unrealistic scenario where reading and reviewing code is somehow "more efficient" than writing it. This is only true if you

    (a) don't know what you're doing and just approve everything you see or

    (b) don't care how bad things get

    13. spockz ◴[01 Sep 25 04:42 UTC] No.45089525{3}[source]▶
    I haven’t tried it lately but how well are these models in generating property based tests?
    14. RugnirViking ◴[01 Sep 25 05:13 UTC] No.45089659{4}[source]▶
    Does it actually replace it? I can still get intellisense style suggestions on my ides (various jetbrains and visual studio) and it's still just as useful (what can this object do I wonder...)
    replies(1): >>45095882 #
    15. LinXitoW ◴[01 Sep 25 09:47 UTC] No.45091173[source]▶
    My experience with Supermaven has been close to perfect. Imho, the smaller the suggestion, the better it generally is. 99% of supermaven suggestions are just one line.
    replies(1): >>45092209 #
    16. jjani ◴[01 Sep 25 12:29 UTC] No.45092209{3}[source]▶
    For those about to look it up: Supermaven is dead.
    17. verdverm ◴[01 Sep 25 19:35 UTC] No.45095882{5}[source]▶
    No it does not replace it. I still get intellisense in VS Code. GP is misinformed