Boundaries and AI hype

Here I am writing another ranty draft about AI. Perhaps this time I’ll make it public.

After a tense and frustrating meeting today to discuss the AI/agentic coding future of the engineering department, I’m again thinking about my boundaries as a professional.

During this meeting, the focus of the proposed document was almost entirely on productivity. I can understand, to some extent, that the business has to focus on productivity to stay afloat and competitive. When I asked about how engineers’ preferences, their career, and what impact this may have on the development of their skills (for example software design, a skill you won’t likely develop by only reading/reviewing generated code) fit into this proposal, there was little meaningful consideration. At least in the way the proposal was phrased, and I suspect this mirrors the real expectations, there didn’t seem to be room for engineers to make this decision themselves without opposing the intended organisational culture. “AI-first.”