ai does not spark joy in programming
24 Jan 2026 • 2 min read
I feel the need to express my recent disenchantment with “programming” due to recent advancements in AI coding assistants.
Although AI has given me tools I couldn’t imagine I’d have access to during my lifetime, I feel that a certain joy of the programming craft has been stolen.
Let me clarify what I mean by programming here:
Programming
The craft of designing abstractions, leveraging code patterns, and writing effective code towards an engineering outcome
Contrasting that to the general craft of being a Software Engineer
The discipline of designing and applying robust systems to solve complex user problems
It’s specifically when I split up programming from general software engineering like this, that AI has stripped a certain joy and excitement away from the craft programming.
Some joys I’ve had in my programming journey:
- the first time OOP “clicked” for me
- the satisfaction of refactoring a messy piece of code into a neatly organized, well-abstracted piece of code
- the joy of reading about a new paradigm, and having my mind wander about the different ways I could apply it in my own projects.
It’s not that AI directly took away these joys, but it’s that they now allow anyone to reach for the solution immediately, making it hard to stay competitive if you don’t embrace them and allow them to quickly implement programming paradigms instead of doing it manually. You no longer need to build a mental model of a paradigm, and deeply understand it, before implementing it.
For me, and potentially for many other software engineers, that process sparked a lot of joy. It’s why I fell in love with the craft in the first place. Now, it feels that embracing that process is no longer viable.
Nowadays, when I’ve decided on how I want a system to work, written out a product spec, and documented edge cases to watch out for, I’m already 70% of the way towards the end.
I can safely pass this spec to an AI agent and have it leverage the best programming principles to build this out for me. I don’t have to brush up on the technical details as much. Especially not when I’m under pressure to ship features and accelerate product development.
Part of this struggle is also just me becoming more proficient and familiar with the craft, that I can safely delegate it to AI. But this also means I’m now automating an entire layer of craftsmanship I once cherished.
That doesn’t mean that all the joys of software engineering or product development are gone. You could still gain satisfaction from architecting a complex system, designing a new workflow, or solving a user’s problem.
But nowadays when I ship code, it no longer feels like a creative expression of my craft. And that deserves a bit of mourning.