The Cost of AI Coding

Summary

“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi I know I’ve posted some upbeat content about AI before, celebrating its potential and encouraging teams to embrace these tools. And honestly, I still believe in that future. But today I want to share something more personal, more nuanced — the one thing that currently worries me most about using AI for software development: lack of joy. It’s easy to talk about productivity gains, competitive advantages, and how AI will reshape our industry. We’ve had those conversations. What’s harder to discuss is what might be lost along the way – something intangible but vital to many of us who chose this profession not just for the paycheck, but because we genuinely love the craft of programming. It’s 8:47 AM, fresh coffee steams on the table, and my headphones cocoon me in the perfect playlist. I go to Asana, where I know exactly what I need to do that day. I open Neovim and code starts flowing through me. I’ve lost the sense of time; I’m completely present in the moment. That, my friends, is what I used to describe as a happy work day. I’m sure that some of you will resonate. Those days I’d emerge tired but fulfilled. Something about the direct connection between thought and creation — where my fingers were simply the conduit for translating ideas into working software — felt almost transcendent. The struggle to solve problems, the small victories along the way, and the satisfaction of building something from nothing… these weren’t just aspects of the job; they were the reason I fell in love with programming in the first place. This experience I’m describing is what psychologists call “flow” — a mental state where you’re fully immersed in an activity, energized by deep focus and complete involvement. First described by...