1 line
15 KiB
HTML
1 line
15 KiB
HTML
<html><head><meta property="og:site_name" content="Medium"><title>What Should Programmers Do While the AI Writes Code?</title></head><body><article class=""><div class=""><div class=""><span class=""></span><section><div><div class=""></div><div class="speechify-ignore"><aside class=""><div class=""><button class=""><p class="">1</p></button><span class="" aria-hidden="true"><span class="">·</span></span><p class=""><span>Top highlight</span></p></div><div class=""><button class=""><p class="">2</p></button></div><div class=""><button class=""><p class="">1</p></button></div><div class=""><button class=""><p class="">1</p></button></div><div class=""><button class=""><p class="">1</p></button></div><div class=""><button class=""><p class="">2</p></button></div><div class=""><button class=""><p class="">1</p></button></div></aside></div><div><div class="speechify-ignore"><div class=""></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div><a class="" href="https://medium.com/plans?source=upgrade_membership---post_counter--a2ce2e6de88e-----------------------------------------"><div class=""><p class="">This member-only story is on us.</p></div><div class=""><div class=""></div></div></a></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div><div class=""><div><div class=""><p class="">Member-only story</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div class=""><div class=""><div class="speechify-ignore"><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><a class="" href="https://medium.com/tag/ai?source=post_page---header_tags--a2ce2e6de88e-----------------------------------------"><span class="">AI</span></a></div></div></div><button aria-label="Unfollow AI" class=""></button></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><a class="" href="https://medium.com/tag/programming?source=post_page---header_tags--a2ce2e6de88e-----------------------------------------"><span class="">Programming</span></a></div></div></div><button aria-label="Unfollow Programming" class=""></button></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><a class="" href="https://medium.com/tag/ai-agent?source=post_page---header_tags--a2ce2e6de88e-----------------------------------------"><span class="">AI Agent</span></a></div></div></div><button aria-label="Unfollow AI Agent" class=""></button></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><a class="" href="https://medium.com/tag/productivity?source=post_page---header_tags--a2ce2e6de88e-----------------------------------------"><span class="">Productivity</span></a></div></div></div><button aria-label="Follow Productivity" class=""></button></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><a class="" href="https://medium.com/tag/software-development?source=post_page---header_tags--a2ce2e6de88e-----------------------------------------"><span class="">Software Development</span></a></div></div></div><button aria-label="Unfollow Software Development" class=""></button></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div><h1 id="15d0" class="pw-post-title" data-testid="storyTitle" data-selectable-paragraph="">What Should Programmers Do While the AI Writes Code?</h1></div><div><h2 id="14b2" class="pw-subtitle-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">Hint: not start another AI coding loop</h2><div><div class="speechify-ignore"><div class="speechify-ignore"><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div><div class=""><a href="/?source=post_page---byline--a2ce2e6de88e-----------------------------------------"><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""></div></div></div></a></div></div></div><span class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div><div class=""><span class=""><a class="" data-testid="authorName" href="/?source=post_page---byline--a2ce2e6de88e-----------------------------------------">Scott Batson</a></span></div></div></div><div class=""></div><div class=""><button class=""><span class=""><span class="">Follow</span></span></button></div></div></div></span></div><div class=""><span class=""><div class=""><span data-testid="storyReadTime">4 min read</span><div class="" aria-hidden="true"><span class="" aria-hidden="true"><span class="">·</span></span></div><span data-testid="storyPublishDate">Aug 31, 2026</span></div></span></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class="pw-multi-vote-icon"><div class=""><div><div class=""><div class=""><button class="" data-testid="headerClapButton"></button></div></div></div></div></div><div class="pw-multi-vote-count"><div><div class=""><div class=""><p class=""><button class="">8.3K<span class=""></span></button></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div><div class=""><div class=""><button class="" aria-label="responses"><p class=""><span class="pw-responses-count">314</span></p></button></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><button aria-label="Repost" class=""><div class=""><div class=""></div></div></button></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div><div class=""><div class=""><p class=""><button class="">146</button></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""></div><div class=""><div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><button aria-label="Add to list bookmark button" data-testid="headerBookmarkButton" class=""></button></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div><a class="" href="https://medium.com/plans?dimension=post_audio_button&postId=a2ce2e6de88e&source=upgrade_membership---post_audio_button-------------------------------------------"><div><div class=""><div class=""><button aria-label="Listen" data-testid="audioPlayButton" class=""><div class=""><p class="">Listen</p></div></button></div></div></div></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div><div class=""><div class=""><button aria-label="Share Post" data-testid="headerSocialShareButton" class=""><div class=""><p class="">Share</p></div></button></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><div><div><div class=""><div class=""><button aria-label="More options" data-testid="headerStoryOptionsButton" class=""><div class=""><p class="">More</p></div></button></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><figure class=""><div role="button" class=""><span class="speechify-ignore">Press enter or click to view image in full size</span><div class=""><picture><source><source data-testid="og"><img alt="" class="" role="presentation" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1000/1*fXHxk5foVZAL2ZR58_F5tw.png"></picture></div></div><figcaption class="" data-selectable-paragraph="">My cursor screen (even though I mostly use Claude now… but that’s a boring picture). Photo by me</figcaption></figure></div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><p id="e271" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph=""><mark class="">Most every programmer is suffering the same growing pains right now.</mark> We’re Barry Allen (or Jay Garrick, if you’re old) with access to the Speed Force for the first time. Zooming around faster than our intent.</p><p id="4161" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">Like many of you, AI came crashing into my daily work-life. It paid dividends immediately. Things that used to take me days, I was doing in hours. I could take on large, complex, meaty projects and deliver them <em class="">fast</em>.</p><p id="a346" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">I was 5 times as productive. So, the next logical step? Well, I need to work on 5 times as many things, right? And that’s what I did. That’s what a lot of my friends and peers did.</p><p id="4dcc" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">A bug report that hints an infrastructure issue? I’m on it.</p><p id="d1b8" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">A new page for managing user settings? It’s in scope now!</p><p id="15ae" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">An admin tool for block users? Put me in coach!</p><p id="2b5d" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph=""><mark class="">I had </mark><mark class=""><em class="">stacks</em></mark><mark class=""> of stacks of pull requests. AI was writing my linear tickets for me and responding to threads and writing project summaries. I was working on everything, everywhere, all at once.</mark></p><p id="e309" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">But like a raccoon on head of a love-stricken chef, I wasn’t fully in control.</p><figure class=""><div role="button" class=""><span class="speechify-ignore">Press enter or click to view image in full size</span><div class=""><picture><source><source data-testid="og"><img alt="" class="" role="presentation" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:700/0*pHkr2CclKTmbmjPV.jpeg"></picture></div></div><figcaption class="" data-selectable-paragraph="">Raccacoonie from “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once”</figcaption></figure><p id="4e35" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">And a few months in, I was burnt out. You want to talk about productivity? I managed to burn myself out 10 times faster than before! Now <em class="">that’s</em> speed for you!</p><p id="6f94" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">I had to take a step back and ask myself: what should I do with this new productivity? Because clearly “more work but harder” wasn’t the answer. Context was getting lost. PRs would sit for weeks, forgotten. <mark class="">Reviews weren’t as thorough.</mark></p><h2 id="4262" class="" data-selectable-paragraph="">Slow work</h2><p id="640e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">Rather than continuing down that path, I took a step back and tried to think of the best ways I spend my time at work.</p><p id="d59d" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">For me, the best times are when I’m learning something or helping someone else learn.</p><p id="5288" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">When my agent starts a loop, spinning up sub agents and self-reviewing and stacking PRs… what if… rather than starting <em class="">another</em> loop of work, I could just… read something?</p><p id="8120" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">What if I just DM’d a friend at work and asked if they wanted to pair on something?</p><p id="cdfe" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">Hell, what if I <em class="">wrote</em> something? (I know, as someone who works at <strong class="">the writing website</strong>, this one should have been obvious).</p><p id="bb0e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">So that’s what I started doing. I started actually <em class="">reading</em> tech articles and blog posts. I’ve been in web development for over 15 years, and as such, I developed the skill of <em class="">skimming the hell out of every article</em>. I would search for the code snippet I needed, the conclusion, the link out to the library.</p><p id="4b5e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">Before AI, you <em class="">had</em> to do that. Writing code took too long, so you couldn’t spare time digesting someone else’s rambling blog post.</p><p id="e576" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">And what you missed out on was the very human side of our industry. The funny writers, the shared life experience, the journey.</p><p id="8fde" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">To be fair, most StackOverflow posts are worth skimming… but not all of them!</p><p id="f7b5" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph=""><mark class="">I’m reading documentation more thoroughly now. I’m understanding how a </mark><mark class=""><code class="">ViewTransition</code></mark><mark class=""> in React works, instead of just finding the code snippet, implementing it and debugging from there.</mark></p><p id="0aff" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph=""><mark class="">That thorough reading has informed how I talk to my agents</mark>. I am more consciously leading them down a path I would have paved myself because I’m taking the time to digest the full scope of a feature.</p><h2 id="7f5d" class="" data-selectable-paragraph="">Writing</h2><p id="d9bf" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">The best way I’ve been spending my time? Writing.</p><p id="ee36" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">I write my <a class="" href="https://tk.xyz/notes/67eb3911-74fe-46cc-b867-f5de1ccd9c10">daily journal on TK most every day</a>. Before, I would have felt too busy to spare 15 minutes to write up some random thoughts.</p><p id="4f89" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">And do you know what happened? People read them! And commented! I talked to <em class="">real users</em> and sparked ideas for new features. The <a class="" href="https://medium.com/blog/two-improvements-for-publication-editors-better-submissions-controls-and-a-clearer-editor-partner-1cb9944af277">submission rules we implemented</a>? The <a class="" href="https://medium.com/blog/editors-welcome-to-your-new-content-calendar-1278d29c19c2">content calendar</a>? The new editors page? Those all came about because people read my work notes and left comments.</p><p id="7e8b" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">I can channel that productivity into something actually useful for real users. That’s worth the token cost.</p><p id="26e5" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph="">I get the temptation. Your backlog never ends, your managers were wowed by the last thing you shipped in 1 day, so you want to chase that high, and everyone on LinkedIn is talking about the side project they’re launching.</p><p id="0f79" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph=""><mark class="">But here’s what I learned by going slower and writing out my thoughts: careful work leads to more productivity </mark><mark class=""><strong class="">in the long run</strong></mark><mark class="">. If you take the time think about your decisions, think about your product, write down your thoughts, or reach out to a coworker, you’d be amazed at what you can learn.</mark></p><p id="c1b6" class="pw-post-body-paragraph" data-selectable-paragraph=""><mark class="">I’m not shipping 10 times as many things now, but the things I’m shipping are 10 times as meaningful.</mark></p></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></article><script type="application/ld+json">{"@type":"SocialMediaPosting","url":"https://scottbatson.dev/what-should-programmers-do-while-the-ai-writes-code-a2ce2e6de88e","headline":"What Should Programmers Do While the AI Writes Code?","author":{"name":"Scott Batson"},"datePublished":"2026-08-31T18:48:46Z"}</script></body></html> |