6 comments
I have years old projects that have languished that I have resurrected due to AI-assisted coding.
- "embedded" (rpi) controller for a boxfan that runs in my lab
- VSR distributed consistency protocol library
- dead simple CQRS library
- OT library
I now have the CQRS library deployed to do accounting for a small SAAS that might generate revenue for me...
On the docket is:
- yard watering "embedded" (rpi) device
- fully personalized home thermostat
etc.
> at least the piano doesn’t autocomplete my scales.
Oh just you wait!
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You can get the challenge back by designing something instead of coding it. Lots of wonderfully designed things are not actually that remarkable from the implementation / manufacturing standpoint.
Create a new board game. Completely unchallenging from a coding standpoint, vibe away. But the fast coding steps open up the ability to actually explore and adjust game play in real time. Start by replicating a favorite game.
Create your own organizational software tools. Whatever you would use and other tools dissappointed.
Those are just examples. Go creative on what a thing does, how it looks, etc.
Nintendo’s generations of game hardware are a repeated lesson in great design despite, even because of, modest internals.
Yea, I never get these types of "AI killed the joy of insert hobby" arguments. By virtue of it being a hobby, I can make the conscious choice not to use AI for it. Really, there should be very few technological advances that can ever kill something that is truly a hobby (for example, people still knit, do metalworking, glassblowing, etc.). Now, if you want to get paid for working inefficiently compared to others, then yes, that will never happen.
It reinspired me, the things that i can now pull off with AI would have died a slow death previously. I would have needed to do so much learning, research, debug, i would not have had the patience to complete it. Now i can finally build those things that i never had the time nor patience to do. Currently building my own language, claude code does an excellent job.
So much this. I've written countless shell scripts / clis that does small things that I would not have done before.
> I am no longer solving any mentally-stimulating problems.. I am just copy-pasting code from an AI assistant.
I'm using AI plenty but looking at my use with a different lens. I like to code. It's fun. It's rewarding. I produce things with it. But it is also practically a means to an end for me. My job isn't purely code but also analysis, strategy, etc.
So, having lots of fun zooming through code problems that slowed me down in the past. I have more time for the analysis/strategy/etc.
I'm not a professional dev but I would encourage author to find a similar lens in their work, if possible. Not saying its easy! And if that solution isn't helping or attainable, maybe it's time to move on?