Whatever Compiles #001 — Do I still enjoy writing code?
Photo: Volvo, 1942
Welcome to Whatever Compiles, just a collection of media I consumed over the week that I think I would enjoy reading about as a Software Engineer. Ranging from great podcasts to something I am building, and sometimes a story.
When AI shifts the layer of abstraction for engineering, where do we find enjoyment? I recently gave a talk to a group of engineers at a different company on how to start being an AI Engineer. We went from some 101 refreshers on AI and dove into how simple it is to start agentic coding. I was asked a question: "Well, now that AI writes the code for you, how do you enjoy your work?" This was a great question and I was excited they asked. I thought I enjoyed writing the most readable code, the simplest solutions, and optimizing my work. I still want and care about those things, but I now get my enjoyment from just shipping stuff every day. At Claimable, our product helps people get medicine — the better I can make that experience and quality, the more enjoyable and fulfilling I find my work.
Another video that made its rounds this week was "I was a 10x engineer. Now I'm useless." This is a feeling a lot of engineers are having. How do I stay fulfilled in a world where my identity as a programmer is shifting to something closer to a PM, architect, and tech lead all at once? As we keep moving forward in this new AI engineering space, we're going to see common problems like this — and the draining effect that day-to-day agentic coding can bring.
Here's what I read, listened to, and generally let distract me this week.
Zen of AI Coding - This post greatly summarizes what you will notice after the first 6 months of agentic coding. Great read!
The Most Disruptive Company in the World - Summary of Anthropic vs DOW faceoff. Interesting to see how this will play out with investors on Antropics side.
How CoreStory Cuts LLM Costs by 70% While Improving Output Quality - Something I want to try to help my agents reduce context rot.
'AI Is African Intelligence': The Workers Who Train AI Are Fighting Back - Sad read about the cost of AI data labeling and the exploitation of humans for AI.
@haris_chc design & marketing @ Quartr - This account is a gold mine of design inspo.
— Elmin