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Original: Simon Willison · 12/03/2026

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Summary

The article discusses the impact of AI on software development, highlighting both optimism and concerns among developers about the future of programming.

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Key Insights

“I feel like programmers have it easy.” — Simon Willison reflects on the advantages programmers have in using AI compared to other professions.
“Having the computer do it for you strips you of that.” — An unnamed Apple engineer expresses concern about losing the fulfillment of hand-crafting code.

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Full Article

12th March 2026 - Link Blog Coding After Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It. Epic piece on AI-assisted development by Clive Thompson for the New York Times Magazine, who spoke to more than 70 software developers from companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, plus other individuals including Anil Dash, Thomas Ptacek, Steve Yegge, and myself. I think the piece accurately and clearly captures what’s going on in our industry right now in terms appropriate for a wider audience. I talked to Clive a few weeks ago. Here’s the quote from me that made it into the piece. Given A.I.’s penchant to hallucinate, it might seem reckless to let agents push code out into the real world. But software developers point out that coding has a unique quality: They can tether their A.I.s to reality, because they can demand the agents test the code to see if it runs correctly. “I feel like programmers have it easy,” says Simon Willison, a tech entrepreneur and an influential blogger about how to code using A.I. “If you’re a lawyer, you’re screwed, right?” There’s no way to automatically check a legal brief written by A.I. for hallucinations — other than face total humiliation in court. The piece does raise the question of what this means for the future of our chosen line of work, but the general attitude from the developers interviewed was optimistic - there’s even a mention of the possibility that the Jevons paradox might increase demand overall. One critical voice came from an Apple engineer: A few programmers did say that they lamented the demise of hand-crafting their work. “I believe that it can be fun and fulfilling and engaging, and having the computer do it for you strips you of that,” one Apple engineer told me. (He asked to remain unnamed so he wouldn’t get in trouble for criticizing Apple’s embrace of A.I.) That request to remain anonymous is a sharp reminder that corporate dynamics may be suppressing an unknown number of voices on this topic.

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Originally published at https://simonwillison.net/2026/Mar/12/coding-after-coders/#atom-everything.