AI Coding Assistants: A Reality Check
## The Hype vs Reality
I use Cursor daily. Copilot before that. These tools are genuinely transformative.
But the takes have gotten out of hand.
### What AI Assistants Are Great At
- Boilerplate generation
- Test scaffolding
- Documentation
- Explaining unfamiliar code
- Regex (finally)
- Converting between formats
### What They Struggle With
- Novel architecture decisions
- Complex debugging
- Understanding business context
- Security considerations
- Performance optimization
- Knowing when NOT to write code
### The Productivity Multiplier
AI assistants make good developers faster. They do not make bad developers good.
The developer who understands:
- Why certain patterns exist
- When to use which data structure
- How systems fail
- What "good enough" means
...will get 10x more value from AI tools than someone who cannot evaluate the output.
### My Prediction
In 5 years, AI-assisted coding will be as normal as syntax highlighting. Not controversial. Not threatening. Just... how we work.
The developers who thrive will be those who learned to think critically, not just prompt effectively.