[HN Gopher] AI-Assisted Coding Killed My Joy of Programming
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AI-Assisted Coding Killed My Joy of Programming
Author : meysamazad
Score : 34 points
Date : 2025-12-01 15:41 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (meysam.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (meysam.io)
| grvdrm wrote:
| > I am no longer solving any mentally-stimulating problems.. I am
| just copy-pasting code from an AI assistant.
|
| I'm using AI plenty but looking at my use with a different lens.
| I like to code. It's fun. It's rewarding. I produce things with
| it. But it is also practically a means to an end for me. My job
| isn't purely code but also analysis, strategy, etc.
|
| So, having lots of fun zooming through code problems that slowed
| me down in the past. I have more time for the
| analysis/strategy/etc.
|
| I'm not a professional dev but I would encourage author to find a
| similar lens in their work, if possible. Not saying its easy! And
| if that solution isn't helping or attainable, maybe it's time to
| move on?
| ako wrote:
| It reinspired me, the things that i can now pull off with AI
| would have died a slow death previously. I would have needed to
| do so much learning, research, debug, i would not have had the
| patience to complete it. Now i can finally build those things
| that i never had the time nor patience to do. Currently building
| my own language, claude code does an excellent job.
| bitpush wrote:
| So much this. I've written countless shell scripts / clis that
| does small things that I would not have done before.
| Nevermark wrote:
| > at least the piano doesn't autocomplete my scales.
|
| Oh just you wait!
|
| ---
|
| You can get the challenge back by designing something instead of
| coding it. Lots of wonderfully designed things are not actually
| that remarkable from the implementation / manufacturing
| standpoint.
|
| Create a new board game. Completely unchallenging from a coding
| standpoint, vibe away. But the fast coding steps open up the
| ability to actually explore and adjust game play in real time.
| Start by replicating a favorite game.
|
| Create your own organizational software tools. Whatever you would
| use and other tools dissappointed.
|
| Those are just examples. Go creative on what a thing does, how it
| looks, etc.
|
| Nintendo's generations of game hardware are a repeated lesson in
| great design despite, even because of, modest internals.
| NewsaHackO wrote:
| Yea, I never get these types of "AI killed the joy of _insert
| hobby_ " arguments. By virtue of it being a hobby, I can make
| the conscious choice not to use AI for it. Really, there should
| be very few technological advances that can ever kill something
| that is truly a hobby (for example, people still knit, do
| metalworking, glassblowing, etc.). Now, if you want to get paid
| for working inefficiently compared to others, then yes, that
| will never happen.
| jowea wrote:
| There are some people who feel the hobby is meaningless if
| they know the machine is better at it.
|
| And well, I entered the field professionally because I liked
| it, and I feel sort of like the rug was pulled under me.
| Sucks to be one of us I guess.
| dnautics wrote:
| I have years old projects that have languished that I have
| resurrected due to AI-assisted coding.
|
| - "embedded" (rpi) controller for a boxfan that runs in my lab
|
| - VSR distributed consistency protocol library
|
| - dead simple CQRS library
|
| - OT library
|
| I now have the CQRS library deployed to do accounting for a small
| SAAS that might generate revenue for me...
|
| On the docket is:
|
| - yard watering "embedded" (rpi) device
|
| - fully personalized home thermostat
|
| etc.
| dsmark wrote:
| AI-assisted development has helped me fall in love with coding
| again. This year, I've created more than 200 small applications
| and utilities that are delivering real value to the business, and
| I'm grateful that this work has been recognized with both a raise
| and a promotion.
| trillic wrote:
| You're averaging a new application every business day? How does
| that even work deploying and maintenance? What happens if you
| leave and your 200 vibe coded apps become tech debt?
| discohead wrote:
| "claude fix this tech det"
| dsmark wrote:
| I'm including everything in that count: scripts, Python-
| compiled executables, development tooling, and custom
| software. On some days, I'll build five or more small tools
| or scripts just to automate a single process. Working for a
| small business gives me the flexibility and freedom to
| explore new technologies and experiment.
| charlie-83 wrote:
| Would you be willing to give an example of a typical
| app/tool like this that you made?
| torlok wrote:
| That doesn't answer any of the concerns raised by the
| parent comment, only reinforces them.
| ZsoltT wrote:
| coding was never supposed to be fun, it was supposed to be
| instrumental
|
| you interface with a machine to get the machine to do what you, a
| human, want it to do relevant to your human purposes
|
| but out of necessity - turns out we need to control a lot of
| machines - we made the act ergonomic
|
| this fit the aesthetic of some people. All to do with them and
| little to do with the act. Akin to alchemists or other purveyors
| of exotic knowledge, the relevance of their skill always had a
| countdown on it
|
| all that's left is to circle back. Coding is instrumental. Now
| our alchemy is one more level abstracted from the artifice of the
| machine. Good. It's closer to people now - like management, now.
| That's bad for the current generation of alchemist but good for
| the world
|
| earnest RIP. On the upside, there's always a next generation
| analogpixel wrote:
| This article makes no sense. Just don't use AI and code by hand
| if that makes you happy.
|
| When I want to stimulate my brain coding, I do things like AOC or
| Euler, and when I want to test out a quick prototype app I have
| AI do all the grunt work of setting it up and getting it to a
| point to see if I even think it's a good idea or not.
| erichocean wrote:
| I've had the exact opposite response: I only enjoy coding now
| that the AI writes ~100% of the code.
| goatlover wrote:
| Why did you become a developer if you hate writing code?
| Pet_Ant wrote:
| I'm guessing the money. I hate working with people with no
| passion for the craft.
| RamtinJ95 wrote:
| This article makes sense it really does, but its not the full
| picture. I think there are different modalities to enjoying
| programming. I wrote a long post about this a couple of months
| ago that goes way more into detail than I could ever write up in
| a HN comment. article: https://handmadeoasis.com/ai-and-software-
| engineering-the-co...
| ecshafer wrote:
| I write almost all of the code, but I love AI for getting boiler
| plate out of the way and getting docs. Chatgpt is way faster at
| giving me a switch statement for all Tif Tags than I could make
| myself, that's not mentally stimulating code.
| kylehotchkiss wrote:
| Working on projects outside of work (personal blogs are cool
| again!) helps me enjoy some time away from the LLM.
|
| If you don't have any content for your personal blog, work on
| that first, find some niche thing to obsess over and have
| something to say about.
| estimator7292 wrote:
| It's been a weird experience for sure. Last week I spent 20
| minutes sorting wires while the AI did a refactor that would have
| taken 2-6 hours by hand.
|
| I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, in certain
| situations it speeds up my work 10x. On the other, it's way, way
| too easy to just stop thinking and have the AI iterate on a
| problem for an hour or two only to end up with utter gibberish,
| revert everything, and realize the fix was trivial with the
| slightest application of critical thinking.
|
| I'm certainly a _faster_ programmer with AI, but I 'm not sure if
| I'm any more _productive_ or producing _better_ code instead of
| just more.
|
| The one thing it's utterly amazing at is my most hated part:
| going from a blank page to _something_. Once there 's _some_ code
| and a hint of structure, it 's much easier for me to get started.
|
| I will say that I was _shocked_ at how well codex handled
| "transform this react native typescript into a C++ library". I
| estimated a week or two of manual refactoring. Codex did it in
| half an hour (and used 25% of my weekly token budget).
| charlie-83 wrote:
| I think the solution here is to just code stuff where AI is not
| useful. Go write embedded code (not arduino), write a compiler,
| create a network protocol, write a game that runs on an actual
| gameboy etc. There are a lot of projects where AI is still of
| limited use (both silly and actually useful). Obviously, the
| downside is that all these projects are going to be much harder
| than "build a todo app" (and possibly require you having
| experience from doing easier projects first).
|
| I don't think that "just don't use AI" is really a solution here.
| It can feel really pointless doing something the hard way when
| you know there is an easy way even if you prefer the hard way.
| geldedus wrote:
| Sad. For me, AI-assisted coding has brought overhelming new
| enthusiasm in creating new application
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