article pub. Apr 26, 2026
Argues that "orchestrator" workflows in agentic coding create a paradox of supervision — effectively supervising an agent requires the very coding skills that atrophy from over-relying on it — and adds vendor lock-in and unpredictable token costs as compounding risks. Proposes demoting AI to a secondary role: use it for planning and research, but keep manually coding 20-100% of implementation and never generate more than can be reviewed in one sitting.
I love the line that a higher level of ambiguity is not a higher level of abstraction, and the Jeremy Howard quote at the end. It ties back to the "dark flow" article I have saved — Rachel Thomas's gambling-addiction parallel to vibe coding, the same slot-machine-lever feeling.