Why I like using AI programming tools

A few days ago, I stumbled on this blog post, titled ”Why I will likely never use AI programming tools“.

But the act of thinking and figuring out a problem, solving it, writing some code, fixing bugs…
Especially creating complex systems that interact with each other, with a lot of moving parts! (Hi, gamedev)
It’s fun to me.

This is exactly why I like using AI programming tools. Same reasoning, opposite conclusion.

AI tools allow me to completely evacuate the boring parts of programming: the boilerplate, the dumb loops, the language idiosyncracies. When you consider AI tools - like the aptly named Copilot - as “helpers” that generate pseudo-code, you can focus on the fun parts: the problem solving, the architecture, the design.

The AI doesn’t write code for you, it writes code with you.

I feel like ranting against the AI is like ranting against the invention of the compiler. Yes you can find joy in writing Assembly code, but… well.

Now maybe that will change in 6 months, or a year or two. Maybe the AI will be so good that it will write code for you. Maybe I’ll be out of a job before 2030, but if that happens, I’m sure going against the flow won’t help. For better or worse.