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Where's the Shovelware? Why AI Coding Claims Don't Add Up

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I’m furious. I’m really angry. I’m angry in a knocking down sandcastles and punching Daniel LaRusso in the face and talking smack about him to his girl kind of way. I’m not an angry person generally, but I can’t stand what’s happening to my industry. I know software development. I’ve been doing it for 25 years, maybe even 28 years1 if you count market research tabulation on amber monochrome screens. Yes, I’m old. I’m a middle-aged programming nerd. My entire life and personal identity are wrapped up in this programming thing for better or worse. I thrive off the dopamine hits from shipping cool things. I was an early adopter of AI coding and a fan until maybe two months ago, when I read the METR study and suddenly got serious doubts. In that study, the authors discovered that developers were unreliable narrators of their own productivity. They thought AI was making them 20% faster, but it was actually making them 19% slower. This shocked me because I had just told someone the week befo

Where's the Shovelware? Why AI Coding Claims Don't Add Up Mike Judge Sep 03, 2025 1,133 191 181 Share I’m furious. I’m really angry. I’m angry in a knocking down sandcastles and punching Daniel LaRusso in the face and talking smack about him to his girl kind of way. I’m not an angry person generally, but I can’t stand what’s happening to my industry. I know software development. I’ve been doing it for 25 years, maybe even 28 years 1 if you count market research tabulation on amber monochrome screens. Yes, I’m old. I’m a middle-aged programming nerd. My entire life and personal identity are wra

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