This post is inspired by the creator of Paint.NET announcing that he has added WINE/Linux support to his art program by using Claude to code it, leading users to have to ditch the program and look for a new art program to use.
Claude continues to be the siren’s song tempting all programmers to jump into the sea.
I think it’s impossible to underestimate the temptation that many [especially older] programmers seem to have for wanting a solution that will make their lives “easier” and fill a hole in their heart.
From where I stand I feel like this sadly comes from certain desires and insecurities:
Wanting to spend less time at work, more time outside / with loved ones.
Feeling like you should be able to accomplish so much more than your body and mind allows with limited time on Earth.
When people get older, they feel that they deserve upward mobility where eventually they become a manager who tells junior coders to do all the hard work. "AI Agents" allow for that fantasy, they're the tireless junior coders who you get to tell what to do, as if you've been promoted.
And it’s really sad to me because I think those three things are really understandable and sympathetic.
I just wish people didn’t resort to this as the solution.
Instead I wish we could accept the limitations of our time, our bodies, our minds. Does this program NEED to have these extra features? Does this software NEED to work on everything?
I think there is a general understanding among most-ish people that “AI writing” isn’t really the process of writing, “AI art” is not really the process of art-making, etc.
But with coding the line feels blurrier and it seems like a lot of people genuinely are not passionate about the act itself.
I understand people getting older and getting tired and wishing desperately that there has to be some way this job could be easier or there could be something “more” to how they spend their time.
I just really wish they would draw a line in the sand and not do this one thing.
This might sound naive but there really is more to this world than just “what are you capable of accomplishing?” There is more than just what can you do, more than what you can make a program or a website do.
There is also: “What am I willing to do?” “What am I willing to compromise?”
Sometimes you know that you can do something, but should you do it? “I can do this, but I choose not to.”
On your death bed, nobody is going to care about how many features you pushed on git.
There's no high score, no reward, for endlessly expanding your software as far and fast as possible.
Just an endless ocean that leads nowhere good.