Co‑Written with ChatGPT

Large language models have made writing code dramatically cheaper. What they have not made cheaper is judgment.

In fact, as code generation accelerates, architectural mistakes, unowned abstractions, and hidden coupling become more dangerous, not less. Entropy compounds faster when mistakes are easy to replicate.

The scarce skill is no longer syntax mastery — it is design discipline.

The real shift

AI does not replace builders. It redefines the builder’s role.

Modern builders are no longer primarily typing code. They are:

  • defining boundaries
  • choosing what not to build
  • setting constraints
  • sequencing work
  • enforcing contracts
  • preserving future optionality

In short, they are supervising a powerful but unreliable labor force.

This is why Principal‑level thinking becomes more important, not less, in an AI‑driven world.

Core principles for building with AI

A durable approach to AI‑assisted development includes:

Boring cores, fast edges

Foundations should be stable and conservative. Experimentation should be isolated.

Contracts before implementation

Schemas, interfaces, and boundaries matter more than internal cleverness.

Default to “no” for new tools

Every dependency needs a long‑term owner. Novelty must justify itself.

Reversibility over elegance

Designs should be easy to roll back, not just easy to ship.

Observability first

If you can’t explain what a system did and why, you don’t control it.

Humans own architecture, AI writes code

Delegation without supervision leads to sprawl.

Why discipline matters more with AI

AI accelerates both good and bad patterns.

Without discipline:

  • abstractions multiply
  • frameworks accumulate
  • systems become hard to explain
  • maintenance costs dominate

With discipline:

  • leverage compounds
  • systems remain legible
  • teams scale more smoothly
  • software survives longer than its original authors

The difference is not talent — it is judgment and restraint.

The builder who wins in the AI era

The builder who thrives is not the fastest typist or the most framework‑savvy. It is the person who:

  • understands tradeoffs
  • protects future decision space
  • designs for humans and machines
  • optimizes for clarity, not flash
  • treats software as a long‑lived system, not a demo

In a world where code is abundant, taste and judgment become the craft.