This content originally appeared on HackerNoon and was authored by Maximiliano Contieri
How AI is Redefining the Role of Programmers in the Tech Industry
\
TL;DR: AI-generated code outperforms lazy programmers. Software jobs are declining, but centaurs will survive.
\ Today, a friend of mine shared his frustration about being asked to fill out a registration form requiring a username and password.
\ The system was poorly designed and demanded a secure password without explaining what the issue was.
\
\ This is a clear example of terrible UX and a lazy programmer unaware of writing error messages with empathy.
\ I told my friend this is unacceptable in today's world since modern AIs can easily solve such problems.
\ I took my phone and said, "L.M.P.T.F.Y." (Let Me Prompt That For You), the modern equivalent to LMGTFY.
\ I quickly wrote a prompt:
\
Give me the code for a secure password validation site with helpful error messages when the user enters a weak password.
\ The A.I. successfully provided a working page with this code:
\
document.getElementById('passwordForm')
.addEventListener('submit', function(event) {
event.preventDefault();
// Prevent the form from submitting
const password = document.getElementById('password').value;
// Get the password value
const errorMessages = document.getElementById('errorMessages');
// Get the error messages container
errorMessages.innerHTML = ''; // Clear previous error messages
let errors = []; // Array to store error messages
// Validate minimum length
if (password.length < 8) {
errors.push('The password must be at least 8 characters long.');
}
// Validate uppercase letters
if (!/[A-Z]/.test(password)) {
errors.push('The password must contain one uppercase letter.');
}
// Validate lowercase letters
if (!/[a-z]/.test(password)) {
errors.push('The password must contain one lowercase letter.');
}
// Validate numbers
if (!/[0-9]/.test(password)) {
errors.push('The password must contain one number.');
}
// Validate special characters
if (!/[!@#$%^&*(),.?":{}|<>]/.test(password)) {
errors.push('The password must contain one special character.');
}
// Display errors or success message
if (errors.length > 0) {
errors.forEach(error => {
const p = document.createElement('p');
// Create a new paragraph element
p.textContent = error;
// Set the error message as text
errorMessages.appendChild(p);
// Add the error message to the container
});
} else {
alert('Valid password!');
// Show success message if no errors
}
});
\ You can also try it yourself:
The Bad News
The AI-generated solution with helpful error messages is bad news for lazy programmers.
\ Software development jobs are already declining, and this trend is expected to continue:
https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/software-engineering-job-openings?embedable=true
This is something many people have been forecasting.
\ I wrote an article five years ago during the last AI Winter predicting this would happen.
https://maximilianocontieri.com/most-programmers-are-losing-our-jobs-very-soon?embedable=true
As the great Niels Bohr once said:
\
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.
\
Now, it's clear: lazy programmers are doomed!
The Good News
What can we do as software engineers besides writing mediocre code?
Give Up
Explore Other Careers
Soon, there will be a shortage of handy people such as electricians, plumbers, and painters.
https://www.youtube.com/v/uU-XfZgQIVw?embedable=true
Improve Ourselves by Becoming Centaurs.
A.I. won't take your job. A developer mastering AI tools will.
\ I write biweekly articles about clean code, refactoring, and programming.
\ In these articles, you can compare the output of many AIs with and without guidance.
\ For example, the above code has several problems unnoticed by AIs:
https://hackernoon.com/how-to-find-the-stinky-parts-of-your-code-part-xxxi?embedable=true
https://hackernoon.com/how-to-find-the-stinky-parts-of-your-code-part-i-xqz3evd?embedable=true
https://hackernoon.com/how-to-find-the-stinky-parts-of-your-code-part-viii-8mn3352?embedable=true
Humans remain invaluable when they know how to harness AI effectively.
\ Here's a video benchmarking some tools:
https://www.youtube.com/v/99GuXTIW0R4?embedable=true
Conclusion
Hopefully, my friend will soon complete the password form — or better yet developers will deprecate all passwords.
Also, I hope you'll write solutions like these and get paid as a "Centaur"- a developer who masters AI tools to enhance their craft.
This content originally appeared on HackerNoon and was authored by Maximiliano Contieri
Maximiliano Contieri | Sciencx (2025-03-12T07:36:25+00:00) AI Coding Tools Are Bad News for Lazy Programmers. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/03/12/ai-coding-tools-are-bad-news-for-lazy-programmers/
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