Building software with AI is a welcome paradigm shift in many ways. My own workflow has evolved to rely on AI-written and reviewed code to help me work faster. But in this new era of AI-written code, I worry that what we gain in efficiency is countered by the erasure of craft.
Craftsmanship is a Human Characteristic
Software craft is not just the ability to generate clean lines of code. It's the culmination of focused attention on the problems we need to solve, the approach we take to problem solving, and the resulting experience of having our problems solved.
Craft itself requires craftsmanship, and that's a human characteristic. In your own world, you likely have many examples of craftsmanship. For me, there's an obvious one in the MacBook Pro that I'm using to write this article. Another example is the hand-made cutting board in my kitchen, or the Samsung Serif television in my living room. I love these products not because they somehow outperform any other product, but because they are imbued with humanity — they have soul.
A product with soul is one that you're drawn to and enjoy using. It achieves its core function but doesn't stop there. It recognizes that its user's needs extend beyond utility. This is only achievable through craftsmanship, and to craft is to be human, and to be human is to have a soul.
Our Needs Extend Beyond Basic Functionality
Thinking about all of this takes me back to college where I learned about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. If you're unfamiliar with the theory, it organizes human needs as a pyramid. The base forms our physiological and safety needs and the upper portions relate to our psychological and self-fulfillment needs.
The connection to craft is this: we won't die without great products. Lack of soul in our software won't endanger our safety. But our needs extend beyond survival. We want our burdens to be lessened, we want our lives to be eased, we want our hearts to be happy.
AI Can't Replicate the Human Element
AI can simulate human experience, but it can't replicate it. It can't have soul and it can't be a craftsman. AI doesn't care how big or important a problem is to you. Its approach to problem solving has nothing to do with the experiences you'll end up having with its solution. Your needs and desires aren't under consideration.
Spend More Time on Craft
There's a lot of excitement about the role AI will play in tomorrow's workforce. Will AI take away jobs? Will the most important roles in a company be prompting LLMs? Will human-led software development and product management go the way of the Woolly Mammoth? In some ways, I hope so. But in the meantime, I hope that you, like I, will spend more time focusing on the craft that goes into great products — the soul that exists in the ones and zeroes because someone put it there.
