Code is cheap, show me your idea.

Writing code was a craft. That craft was the joy of being an engineer.

AI is taking the joy of writing code away, and soon enough it will take the joy of reading code too. Engineers are turning into managers: we talk to different agents (harness sessions) to make a wish, armed with the skills and taste we built up from years of enjoying that craft.

When I first became a solution architect, it did feel like an upgrade to a role that creates more essential value: design and architecture. Ironing out the tech design and leading the team to build it in 6 sprints brought real joy. AI hasnt taken that away (yet). But soon enough, some agents will be upgraded to planning agents (the architect), and cheaper models will carry out the actual building.

Craft → Copilot → Vibe → YOLO → Idea engineering.

Limited joy means limited growth as a technical person. Our taste came from years of the craft: writing code, reading code, shipping it and putting out the fires. For future engineers, if the craft is gone, where does taste come from?

We used to say: talk is cheap, show me the code.
Now: code is cheap, show me your idea.