The Developer Has No Clothes

Welcome to my LinkedIn newsletter! In each issue of Breaking the Build, I'll share my thoughts on software development through the looking glass of behavioural sciences. Subscribe to stay updated.

A reflection on AI's rapid advancement and the evolving identity of software developers

The Moment of Truth

A few days ago, I found myself staring at my code editor, cursor blinking accusingly at me. I had just spent twenty minutes crafting what I thought was an elegant solution to a tricky LLM memory optimization problem. Then, out of curiosity, I asked an AI assistant to tackle the same problem. In fifteen seconds, it proposed a solution that was demonstrably better than mine in every way - more efficient, more maintainable, and with edge cases I hadn't considered.

That moment hit differently than previous encounters with AI coding assistants. This wasn't just about autocompleting function names or suggesting variable declarations anymore. The AI had out-reasoned me.

The New Frontier

The recent announcement of OpenAI's o3 model family brings this reality into sharp focus. With a Codeforces rating of 2727 - higher than most elite competitive programmers - and unprecedented performance across mathematical and scientific reasoning tasks, we're witnessing something that feels like a watershed moment in software development.

But here's what keeps me up at night: What does it mean to be a "good developer" when AI can consistently outperform us in the technical aspects of our craft? For years, we've prided ourselves on our ability to solve complex problems, to see patterns, to architect solutions. These were the clothes that gave us our professional identity and status. Now, it feels like those clothes are becoming increasingly transparent.

Stripping Away the Illusions

The emperor's new clothes isn't just a fairy tale anymore - it's a metaphor for our industry's moment of truth.

Yet, I'm finding an unexpected optimism in this discomfort. Perhaps we've been wearing the wrong clothes all along. The true value of a developer might not lie in their ability to write the most optimal algorithm or spot the most obscure edge case. Instead, it might be in our uniquely human abilities: understanding the messy reality of user needs, navigating organizational dynamics, and bringing emotional intelligence to technical decisions.

Beyond the Benchmarks

Consider this: While o3 can achieve an impressive 87.5% on the ARC-AGI benchmark, it can't sit in a meeting with stakeholders and read the room. It can't feel the frustration in a user's voice and translate that into product insights. It can't build trust with a team through shared struggles and celebrations.

The future of software development isn't about competing with AI in its domain of strength. It's about embracing our human strengths and letting AI amplify them. We need to shift our focus from seeing ourselves as pure technical problem solvers to seeing ourselves as translators between human needs and technical solutions.

Embracing Our New Identity

This isn't about surrendering to AI or diminishing the importance of technical skills. Rather, it's about recognizing that our profession is evolving, and we need to evolve with it. The clothes we've been wearing - the ones that defined us purely by our technical capabilities - might not fit anymore. But maybe that's okay. Maybe it's time to try on something new.

The Road Ahead

The developer of tomorrow won't be celebrated for writing the cleanest code or implementing the most efficient algorithm. They'll be celebrated for their ability to understand human problems deeply, to collaborate effectively, to make ethical decisions, and to use AI tools responsibly to amplify their impact.

The emperor might not have clothes anymore, but perhaps that's exactly what we needed to see more clearly who we really are and what truly matters in our profession.

Key Takeaways

• Embrace Human Skills: Focus on empathy, communication, and organizational understanding
• AI as an Amplifier: Use AI to enhance your capabilities, not compete with it
• Bridge the Gap: Position yourself between technical solutions and human needs

Breaking the Build is an attempt to understand the human side of software development. Each issue draws upon decades of empirical research and insights from academia, enterprises, startups and open-source communities; to unravel hidden incentives, bust myths and challenge long held beliefs about building software.

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More Resources

• OpenAI's o3 Model Announcement
• The Future of Software Engineering in an AI-First World