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Embracing the parallel coding agent lifestyle

(simonwillison.net)
159 points jbredeche | 1 comments | 06 Oct 25 10:40 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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favoboa ◴[10 Oct 25 01:15 UTC] No.45534620[source]▶
I believe AI isn't replacing developers, instead, it's turning every software engineer into a hybrid between EM + IC, basically turning them into super-managers.

What we need is better tools for this upcoming new phase. Not a new IDE; we need to shift the whole paradigm.

Here's one example: If we give the same task to 3 different agents, we have tools to review a diff of each OLD vs NEW separately, but we need tools to review diffs of OLD vs NEW#1 vs NEW#2 vs NEW#3. Make it easy to mix-and-match what is best from each of them.

From what I've seen, the idea that AI is turning developers into super-managers is why some people struggle to adapt and quickly dismiss the experience. Those who love to type their code and hate managing others tend to be more hesitant to adapt to this new reality. Meanwhile, people who love to manage, communicate, and work as a team are leveraging these tools more swiftly. They already know how to review imperfect work and give feedback, which is exactly what thriving with AI looks like.

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voidhorse ◴[10 Oct 25 02:03 UTC] No.45534810[source]▶
> They already know how to review imperfect work and give feedback, which is exactly what thriving with AI looks like.

Do they, though? I think this is an overly rosy picture of the situation. Most of the code I've seen AI heavy users ship is garbage. You're trying to juggle so many things at once and are so cognitively distanced from what you are doing that you subconsciously lower the bar.

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1. favoboa ◴[10 Oct 25 02:32 UTC] No.45534935[source]▶
You're absolutely right about the garbage code being shipped, and I would bucket them under another group of adopters I didn't mention earlier. There are people hesitant to adapt, people thriving with AI, and (not exhaustively) also this large group that's excited and using AI heavily without actually thriving. They're enjoying the speed and novelty but shipping slop because they lack the review discipline.

However, my sense is that someone with proper management/review/leadership skills is far less likely to let that code ship, whether it came from an AI, a junior dev, or anyone else. They seem to have more sensibility for what 'good' looks like and can critically evaluate work before it goes out. The cognitive distance you mention is real, which is exactly why I think that review muscle becomes more critical, not less. From what I've observed, the people actually thriving with AI are maintaining their quality bar while leveraging the speed; they tend to be picky or blunt, but also give leeway for exploration and creativity.