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Original: Simon Willison · 12/03/2026

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Summary

The article discusses how AI-assisted coding reveals a divide among developers, highlighting differing motivations and approaches to coding.

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Key Insights

“AI-assisted coding is exposing a divide among developers that was always there but maybe less visible.” — Introduction to the impact of AI on developer practices.
“You can let the machine write the code and focus on directing what gets built, or you can insist on hand-crafting it.” — Describing the choices developers face with AI integration.
“The motivation behind the work was invisible because the process was identical.” — Reflecting on the previously indistinguishable motivations of developers.

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Topics

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Full Article

12th March 2026 Here’s what I think is happening: AI-assisted coding is exposing a divide among developers that was always there but maybe less visible. Before AI, both camps were doing the same thing every day. Writing code by hand. Using the same editors, the same languages, the same pull request workflows. The craft-lovers and the make-it-go people sat next to each other, shipped the same products, looked indistinguishable. The motivation behind the work was invisible because the process was identical. Now there’s a fork in the road. You can let the machine write the code and focus on directing what gets built, or you can insist on hand-crafting it. And suddenly the reason you got into this in the first place becomes visible, because the two camps are making different choices at that fork. — Les Orchard, Grief and the AI Split

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Originally published at https://simonwillison.net/2026/Mar/12/les-orchard/#atom-everything.