When Software Started Writing Software: A Developer’s History of AI

This is an essay, not a tool — a developer walking through how AI-assisted coding went from novelty to daily workflow obligation over roughly three years. It covers the shift in what a developer day looks like, what skills atrophied, and what new ones became load-bearing. The framing is honest rather than breathless, which puts it above the median AI-reflection post. It is most useful as something to send to a teammate who is either over-credulous about AI coding tools or reflexively dismissive of them — it lands in the middle without being sycophantic. The limitation is that it is a blog post, so its half-life is short and its recommendations are soft. If you are already deep in the weeds on AI tooling, you will not learn anything new. If you have someone on your team who has not thought carefully about the shift, this is a readable 10-minute assignment. -> Best for: technical PM or SaaS team of 2-5 onboarding skeptical teammates