been watching AI adoption with other engineers. noticed a pattern:
weaker engineers use AI and it actually makes them more incorrect. not less.
AI amplifies your level of clarity. if your thinking is fuzzy, the output is fuzzy at scale.
the real skill right now isn't thinking more. it's thinking less... but with precision.
clarity is the new leverage.
the evolution of software engineering is just cars.
manual transmission was assembly. automatic was c++, javascript, high-level languages. now we're at ferraris. claude code, ai-assisted dev.
when automatic came out, the manual guys swore you'd lose control. that software quality would tank. instead it made devs more efficient and 10x'd the amount of software produced.
now the automatic drivers. your solid honda and toyota devs. they're saying ferraris can't handle back roads. and they'll point at every ferrari crash they see. "look, ai code broke in production."
but here's what they're missing.
maybe the ferrari goes slower on rough terrain right now. maybe your honda handles that dirt road a little better today. but once that ferrari driver learns the vehicle?
they're doing 2-3x your speed and you're never catching up. ever.
and the real thing nobody's talking about. we're not even staying at ferraris. what's coming is closer to a personal helicopter. the game won't even be on the same road anymore.
right now there's rough output. there are crashes. but everyone's fixated on "look, a crash" instead of watching the trajectory.
the ones learning to drive the ferrari today are the ones who won't need to catch up tomorrow.
@PC0697@corbin_braun I think software engineering splits into absolutely cracked senior/staff “own everything” types. And highly communicative software engineers who move closer to product. There won’t be a middle ground like we have today.
@toddgoldberg@dwr@varunsrin capital efficiency is just another form of leverage. when you're not burning cash to survive, you negotiate from strength. every dollar saved is optionality earned.
@naval AI commoditizes the middle. the safe bets. the stuff that was "good enough." now your only options are the edges — radical taste, wild experimentation, or genuine humanity. ironically, AI forces you to become more yourself.
@SahilBloom most people avoid the gap because the truth hurts. but that gap is also where all your leverage lives. you can't build options if you won't admit you need them.
@thejustinwelsh the hidden part is also:
years of having no audience.
years of no validation.
years where quitting looked rational.
the "overnight success" narrative isn't inspiring.
it's survivorship bias with better marketing.
@SahilBloom also worth noting:
challenge-seeking is a luxury.
most people aren't avoiding hard things because they lack motivation.
they're managing systems designed to keep them in survival mode.
the contagion works both ways.