AI Writes Code. Developers Own the Responsibility!

Coding with AI is producing code at a faster rate than ever and accelerating the release of production increments. The code can be generated in minutes and feels good because of how quickly it is created. This begs the question, what does the software developer do now?  It changes where the developer’s focus goes. 

While AI is generating the code, it doesn’t own the code.  The developer remains accountable for it, which means they must review the code deeply enough to understand how it works, why it works, and where it could fail. Also, they must focus on verification activities surrounding the code. This article is based on some experimentation with AI and ensuring the developer has a good understanding of the code changes. 

Think of AI as a Junior Engineer, and it is your job to raise them up. It can produce a lot of code quickly, and it can be confidently wrong when doing so. It has no sense of risk, context, or consequences.  Think of the verification as the handoff where ownership transfers to a human. It is still your job to ensure a verified and quality outcome. This should take a majority of engineering time or later on, logical gaps leading to failures in services, data, and infrastructure. How does the Developer responsibility shift?

• Review code written for understanding.  Ask the AI tool to explain to you what this code does, line by line. Ensure it's not vague and be sure it aligns with what you are thinking. Ask what the expected outputs and outcomes would be. Then ask what would break the code. Finally, ask AI why this approach was chosen over alternatives. A useful litmus test is if you wouldn’t feel comfortable maintaining this code for the next year, you don’t understand it well enough
• Ensure that the code was version-controlled properly and in the correct branch. This includes checking for potential issues before merging it into the main codebase.
• Step up Code Reviews.  This means to peer-check code for quality and adherence to standards.  The Developer should share coding standards with the AI tool to ensure it aligns with standards. If coding standards are missing, then they must be written and then added to the AI tool’s vector of information.   
• Spend time sharing responsibilities with Testing to ensure all verification activities are completed.  This should include appropriate testing: Unit Testing (e.g., testing individual components or functions in isolation), Integration Testing (e.g., testing how different components work together), System Testing (e.g., testing the system as a whole for speed, scalability, and stability), and more. 

AI reduces typing time. It does not absolve you of the responsibility and judgment for a product well built! AI changes where time is spent, not whether time is spent. While we will spend less time coding, we are still accountable to spend time verifying and understanding the code that has been generated to ensure it meets the needs of the outcomes we are looking for.