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The future of code is exciting and terrifying

The Verge / 3/18/2026

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Key Points

  • AI-powered coding tools are making many developers write less code and instead manage AI agents, changing how actual development work gets done.
  • The shift is pushing programmers toward orchestration, tooling, and higher-level system design rather than hands-on coding.
  • The Vergecast discussion frames this era as both exciting and terrifying, highlighting hype, practical challenges, and uncertainty around adoption.
  • The transformation has broad implications for workflows and decision-making across roles, including engineers, product managers, designers, marketers, and business stakeholders.

Suddenly it seems like everyone's a coder. Or, at the very least, like they play one in the Claude Code app. But even for the seasoned pros, the act of software development is changing fast - many people are writing less code themselves and instead spending their time managing agents and projects. So what does all that change mean, both for the code and the people who make it?

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On this episode of The Vergecast, Paul Ford, a writer and entrepreneur and longtime tech thinker, expl …

Read the full story at The Verge.