AI Pair-Programming Mindset
Pairing with AI looks like human-colleague pairing but has different traits. Avoiding both "dumping" and "swallowing" is the biggest trick to leveraging AI.
2 Failure Patterns
Pattern A: Dumping Syndrome
- Ask "do it all" at once
- Adopt the result without reading it
- Hotbed of failure: spec misread, arbitrary assumptions, meaningless refactor
Pattern B: Swallowing Syndrome
- Adopt AI output as-is without reading
- "It runs" only, no quality check
- Hotbed of failure: bugs, security vulnerabilities, useless dependency additions, meaningless comments
Principles of Good Pairing
1. Split Tasks Small
Over "implement feature X entirely," stage it: "1 type defs → 2 core function → 3 error handling → 4 tests." Confirm/fix at each stage.
2. Share Context
Tell AI "what this project aims for," "why this design." Use CLAUDE.md or Cursor Rules.
