Yes, AI can generate the code for this assignment. Don’t let it. You have to write the code. I explain that, if they don’t write the code, they will not be able to effectively read the code. The ability to read code is certainly going to be valuable, maybe more valuable, in an AI-based coding future. If you can’t read the code you are going to fall into The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Trap, creating systems you don’t understand and can’t control.

And on what separates senior engineers who can use AI well from those who can’t:

Senior programmers who already have a lot of experience from the pre-AI era are in a good spot to use LLMs effectively: they know what ‘good’ code looks like, they have experience with building larger systems and know what matters and what doesn’t. The danger with senior programmers is that they stop programming entirely and start suffering from brain rot.

This maps directly onto what I’ve been writing about with AI for product work and the second brain setup I’ve built. The system works because I spent years writing and reading PRDs, strategy docs, and OKRs—enough to develop actual opinions about what good looks like. You have to do the work first, then the second brain is worth building.