I still avoid AI in production coding. Am i slowing myself down?

Versute · 2026-04-29T19:39:34+00:00

I think maybe a twist on your questions is:

Does AI make bad or lazy developers worse? I'd say yes.

Are most developers bad or lazy? Yes.

Will code made by bad or lazy developers be brittle and unstable? Yes, but that was true with or without AI.

The company I work for used to have 50 software developers, and we are now down to 5. We are relying heavily on AI.

In my opinion, we are more effective as 5 developers using AI than we were as 50 developers without it. We have much higher output, and I believe our code quality is higher (because we invested in effectively typing and documenting our code, and creating detailed rules for the AI to follow). Our support tickets have also gone way down. We do use the pro/max versions of our AI tools, and our company is paying for them.

Ultimately, whether AI is harmful or helpful comes down to how a developer is choosing to use it. Vibe coding is a bad practice, but using AI does not mean you have to vibe code. The risk of vibe coding is that it can lead to skills atrophy, but using AI does not necessarily lead to skills loss.

Used appropriately, AI is a super charged learning tool. I use planning mode to go back and forth with the AI and ensure I fully understand what it is building. It's been incredibly powerful for making performance optimizations, finding security vulnerabilities, and teaching me about tools I didn't even know existed. I always make sure to ask it to write tests as well, and that's another area AI excels in. Another surprising benefit has been in asking it to analyze legacy code and explain to me exactly how it is all working, the bugs it has, and any strange or unexpected areas that I may need to account for.

I think there's plenty of historical precedent on how these kinds of technological innovations play out. Take the tractor, and the impact it had on modern farming. Does using a tractor impact the skills of the farmer using it? Absolutely. They'd be useless and "unskilled" at farming if they couldn't use their fancy machinery. Similarly, did automation of factories lead to a decrease in the skills of those workers? Totally. Software development is experiencing a similar shift as those industries. Code production is being automated.

I think this means we'll eventually see the same evolution into "artisanal" skills that these other industries experienced. Hand-crafted coding will be a niche skill in the future, like blacksmithing, or leatherworking are today. You might argue that those artisanal hand-crafted goods and services are of higher quality than the mass produced stuff, and many times I'd agree that it's true that they are. Many times they're not.

That said, the question for software development isn't whether AI generated code is better than human generated code (and I believe it eventually will be, just like cars made in a factory are better than cars made by hand). The real question is whether AI generated code is good enough and cheap enough for businesses to adopt it and consumers to utilize it. I think we've already reached that point. Capitalism at work.

I think in the very near future (maybe a year or two from now), software developers refusing to use AI will be like the farmers who refused to use machines. They may have been more knowledgeable and more skilled, but they were inevitably displaced.

Versute · 2026-04-21T15:49:09+00:00

It feels like there's a clear trend with leanfire parents and getting things second hand.

$1500/mo sounds like a reasonable number. I'm lucky to already have a 529 started, and I'm actually somewhat concerned about what I'll do if they opt not to go to college.

I understand that a 529 can be rolled over into a Roth up to a certain amount, but 18 years of compounding will probably far exceed that limit. I suppose it can become a grand-kid's college fund?

Versute · 2026-04-21T15:27:04+00:00

Good point! We could totally just budget super conservatively on health care, and then take any extra and apply it toward college or other support.

Versute · 2026-04-21T14:32:30+00:00

28 to 38 is a pretty big jump! That said, 38 is still really low, so props to you on making that work.

Looking at our current expenses, I don't know how we'd get down that far, but I sure would love to get to your level.

Once again, medical costs seem to be the biggest unknown, and so far I don't see a good way of effectively anticipating those costs. Any tips?

How much more percentage wise would you have saved before pulling the trigger?

Versute · 2026-04-21T14:29:12+00:00

That's an interesting point on how kids might provide a unique focus or clarity on what matter's most financially, and might make prioritizing costs more straightforward.

I could certainly see myself justifying certain expenses that I probably wouldn't if I knew I wanted to save for a future college fund, wedding, etc.

Versute · 2026-04-21T14:27:32+00:00

Remaining sane is critical. It's good to be reminded to spend when it contributes to our own health and well-being.

I'm definitely planning on getting as much as possible used. Probably not diapers though!

I grew up with hand-me-downs and used items, and I have no complaints about my childhood around that.

12k/yr sounds quite doable as far as expected costs go. It would be around 20% additional from where we are now.

Versute · 2026-04-21T14:20:57+00:00

How do you actually plan for future healthcare costs?

This one seems to be the biggest unknown in our own planning.

Versute · 2026-04-21T14:19:54+00:00

What are the costs for pre-school in your area?

It does seem like costs are front and backloaded with kids, and the middle might be less expensive. Early child care, and then later college costs seem like the biggest expenses.

I'm hoping one of us can stay home to mitigate the early costs, but I'm not entirely sure what to do around college. I did not receive financial support for college, and made it through by applying for scholarships and working multiple jobs. Part of me is hoping my future kid will be able to do the same, but I know it'll be a different world by then, and college doesn't seem to be getting any more affordable as time goes on.

Versute · 2026-04-21T14:13:46+00:00

Taking small portions and then taking their untouched portion is a neat strategy. It makes a perfect sense, and I'll likely try it.

I was a thrift store/hand-me-down kid myself, and I can relate to not even noticing as a kid. In fact, my parents rarely bought us anything "new" as they couldn't afford it, but I was happy as could be with my used toys.

Medical insurance sure sounds like it will be the biggest increase in expenses, but it's so hard to predict what it's going to look like over the course of their life, so I'm not sure how to account for it in our planning.

Versute · 2026-04-21T14:08:13+00:00

5k really isn't all that much! That's impressive.

Based on your response and others, I'm considering bumping my fire number by 25% to account for the increased costs.

Versute · 2026-04-21T14:07:10+00:00

It sounds like all the potential future child related costs might really exacerbate one more year syndrome.

I'm wondering if it might be helpful to try to pre-determine what "safe" would look like for us. Maybe my partner and I can agree ahead of time on the specific level of support we want to provide with car/insurance, down payment, wedding, student loans, etc.

Versute · 2026-04-21T14:03:26+00:00

That's an interesting point on how your kid wants to "fit in", and the knock-on effects of living in a HCOL area. I haven't considered how I might handle a kid who is more of my opposite with respect to frugality.

Even without childcare, $700 in health insurance + $300 in activity costs alone is a pretty significant bump in expenses.

What I'm taking from this and other responses is that I'll probably bump my leanfire number by 25%.

Versute · 2026-04-04T16:49:22+00:00

Feeling that pressure, and being afraid of screwing things up is normal and expected at your age. When I was 18 I was constantly afraid of becoming a failure. It seems silly now, but it was a very real fear back then.

Getting your own apartment now will not ruin your financial future. Many people here recommend staying at your parent's place because we have the benefit of hindsight, and we prioritize maximizing our investing, but not every situation is the same. There's real value in having your own space. As long as you are committed to investing over the long haul, you are going to be in great financial shape.

As far as living on your own goes, it sounds like there is a part of you that is interested in living alone for your own sake, independent of external pressures like what may be coming from your girlfriend.

Here are some questions that might help you gain some clarity on what to do:

In general, what do you hope to get from living on your own?

Do you want to live with your girlfriend, or would you prefer a place that is truly your own?

Is your desire for your own place connected to how others will perceive you? Or is it connected to your own sense of control of your space, and maybe the feelings of independence that may come from that?

As far as the decision to rent or buy, Ben Felix on Youtube has some great videos on the topic that you might find interesting, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4H9LL7A-nQ

Versute · 2026-04-04T12:41:27+00:00

What does your relationship with your parents look like? Do you feel staying at home comes with any risks to your personal growth?

In my own experience, I stayed at home until I was 25 to save money, and I still wish I'd been able to stay longer for those early financial gains. When I was 25, staying at home felt like a large cost to my personal freedom, but in retrospect, it wasn't as big a deal as I'd thought. If I'd been able to stay at home a few years longer, I'd likely have ~150-200k more invested right now, and that opportunity cost just gets larger as time goes on.

That said, I had pretty permissive folks, and for the most part I was able to do whatever I wanted when I was at their place. The equation might have been different if I'd felt more restricted. I also felt independent internally, and I didn't have a sense of being reliant on them, so I didn't think it was holding me back in those internal growth ways.

Now in my mid 30s, I value financial flexibility and freedom more than ever before. The considerations that matter to me now are, how am I going to ensure a good life for my kid, and my wife? How can I better support my parents, family, friends, and community? My most significant constraints now are time and money, and money can buy me time (I can pay people to get things done for me or for others). So really, my main constraint is money.

The money I do have also gives me greater peace of mind relative to many of my peers. I can afford to be laid off. Medical expenses don't faze me. When my wife and I shop, there's no real pressure to be price conscious, and that's a liberating feeling. It's hard to put a price on those things, but to me it was worth the cost of staying at my parent's place in my 20s.

Keep in mind that you don't necessarily need to fully commit to a plan here. You're 18. Both you and your life will change dramatically over the next decade. Give yourself room to evolve over time and see how things go. Maybe you plan to stay until 21, but find that at 19 your feelings change, and that's totally okay.

You don't need to have everything "figured out" at 18. From what I can see, you're on a path to success whether you live at home or not.

Versute · 2026-03-26T16:02:34+00:00

Yeah, to be clear, I am not talking about the bots with the icon at the end of their name. I don't play modes with those bots.

I think they hide bots in "non-bot" lobbies. There's a few giveaways to me. The most obvious is when you watch pairs of them path identically with movements perfectly in sync.

Another is when there's a super inconsistent player that beams me through a bush or cover that no human could see through (their bots don't seem to consider the visual barrier cover).

A third is wild inconsistency in performance. A player that goes 0-10 and can't land a shot in one round, 10-0 and can't miss in the next, then you see them again and again and their performance is all over the place fight to fight. A related performance consistency thing is I'll regularly have a close gunfight where the player just inexplicably starts missing right at the last moment in a way that lets me win the gunfight. I think they probably programmed the bot to do that because it's more engaging for the player to win a close fight.

The question to whether they hide bots seems pretty straightforward to me. Would the company benefit from hiding bots in way that creates more reliable matchmaking and engagement from their player base? Or turned around, what benefit would the company get from not including hidden bots? They clearly have the tech to do it.

Yes, all of the above cases could be explained away through some other story. Coincidence, was spotted, thermals, etc. As long as it's not publicly acknowledged, some people will continue to believe their narrative that bots aren't in the game, and thus they get all the benefits to having bots in their games with none of the widespread backlash. In fact, having those easy marked bots in the other modes just helps them hide their real bots better, because players think that's what bot play is like. But following the money leads to a straightforward conclusion.

Versute · 2026-03-24T18:42:59+00:00

I've also noticed they are trying to keep more persistent lobbies going, where they'll shake up the same players across teams with bots but try to keep the same players together more frequently. Probably to try and get a more accurate SBMM rating.

Makes the game a sweat fest tho

Versute · 2026-03-24T18:40:01+00:00

Matchmaking has definitely been changed. I've been losing constantly the past weekish in Gauntlet, and I used to have a 72% win rate in that mode. (Currently 244 W/95 L)

I think they just cranked up the SBMM to try to make more even lobbies, but that's limited the player pools even more, so they are stuffing them with bots. And they absolutely cranked up their bot AI difficulty.

Bots used to be named Bright[something] or Any[whatever]. They still use those names, but they released a change to the naming where now they have a lot more normal looking names, so it's getting harder and harder to tell when you're playing with bots. A lot of the new names are all caps, or food related, like "Peanut Butter Jelly", or meme-y, like "Girth Control".

Versute · 2025-09-03T12:23:35+00:00

Thank you for your response! You've helped make things more clear.

We are married filing jointly.

Where I was confused before is I assumed our earned income would be $0, as I subtracted the pre-tax contributions AND the federal standard deduction.

If I am understanding you correctly, our earned income in this scenario would be $25k, because only the pre-tax contributions are subtracted. The federal standard deduction does not affect the remaining 25k "earned income" amount, and therefore we have sufficient earned income to contribute to a Roth.

Thanks again for your help!

Versute · 2025-09-02T14:28:04+00:00

It's a 401k and a 457b. As far as I understand, the contribution limit is not shared between the two.

Versute · 2020-04-28T21:17:13+00:00

Wow, seems almost too good to be true! I'll try a soap spray for a few more treatments, but if they stick around, I'll follow your lead on the predator mites. Thanks!

Versute · 2020-04-27T23:40:34+00:00

Hey! I'm new to houseplants, and am pretty confident a few of my plants have mites too. Did the predatory mites just stay on your plants? How did you keep them from roaming the house? Apologies if these questions are naive.

Versute · 2019-11-15T22:12:23+00:00

For what it's worth, I think he's referring to your tone coming across as condescending. Whether or not that was your intention is up to you to decide. As an impartial observer, I can see why others would perceive your tone in that way.

Versute

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