Lately, I’ve had a lot of 1-on-1 time with Chat. My friend, Chat. My enemy, Chat.
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I mostly feel like a caretaker for a decent programmer with Alzheimer’s.
We’ll get halfway through a project and suddenly I'm explaining folder structures to Chat that it had suggested to me at the outset.
I'm writing this after a full night’s sleep and before I crack the AI back open, so know that I am calm when I say:
I would like to squeeze the life out of this thing.
Can it code better than me?
Sure.
But the amount of time I’m spending managing it wouldn’t be sustainable in the workplace.
That's what keeps me up at night:
Leadership - who have zero experience in the roles they’re trying to replace - think this is the answer?
I know:
“Use Cursor.”
“Try Gemini.”
“Perplexity is better for that.”
You're not wrong.
But most people still think AI is ChatGPT, so this feels like a fair use case.
Also, I’m lazy and already paying for Plus.
Yesterday, I got a warning:
“You’ve kind of been on Chat a long time today, buddy. Maybe take a break?”
Today I hit my saved memory cap.
But Lifelong Learner over here cannot be stopped.
Back in the day, I used to brute-force client edits: crushing notes so fast the hold up was always on them. That same “grind ‘til it’s done” wiring from working kitchen rushes is what’s keeping me upright in JavaScript hell today.
It’s not healthy. But it helps.
Especially when your coding partner is a hallucinating chatbot.
There are better ways to build.
But probably not cheaper.
I’ve got time.
Not because I’m free, but because I’m unemployed.
I’m accomplishing things I couldn’t without AI.
But let me tell you: off-the-shelf tools like Make and n8n crack at scale.
Good for MVPs.
Bad for SaaS.
Fun to tinker with.
Terrifying to trust.
We are so cooked if this is what CEOs are outsourcing to.
