--- title: "Software Engineer Says AI Is Causing Chaos Among Coders Who Now Just “Press Enter” All Day, Have Stopped Thinking or Understanding Software" description: "A coder said that the \"state of engineering right now is horrible\" with people \"working 12 to 13 hours a day just to press enter.\"" date: "2026-09-23" modified: "2026-09-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/software-engineer-ai-chaos-press-enter-all-day" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" --- # Software Engineer Says AI Is Causing Chaos Among Coders Who Now Just “Press Enter” All Day, Have Stopped Thinking or Understanding Software ![A finger hitting the Enter button on a keyboard.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* The advent of powerful AI coding tools has quickly made programmers heavily reliant on the tech, with experts warning that they're [slowly but surely losing the ability to write code]() by hand. It's a growing [existential crisis]() that's significantly raising the chance of errors or security issues in AI code that hasn't been properly vetted. Experts are warning of a "[class divide]()" between those, who are over relying on AI tools and more experienced coders, or "craftsmen," who are left wading through the former's group's output and applying any necessary fixes. Meanwhile, coders who've been instructed to use nothing but AI in a race to the bottom are losing their minds, saying they're relegated to pushing buttons instead of taking pride in their work and building meaningful products themselves. As a user who goes by "v0xium" argued [on X](), the situation is getting out of hand. In a post that's been viewed over seven million times and liked tens of thousands of times, the user warned that "it is over." "The state of engineering right now is horrible," the user wrote. "It has been half a month since I started a new role at a big company. Nobody knows anything here." The engineer explained that everything at the unnamed company is being made by Anthropic's coding assistant Claude Code. And while everybody is "being forced to ship as much as they can," and pushing code isn't a "bottleneck," operations are still "slow." "People are working 12 to 13 hours a day just to press enter," v0xium wrote. "Everyone, literally everyone, from an L1 to an L7 engineer here is doing the same thing. Talk to Claude." That means there's "no sense of victory" and "nobody is resolving bugs." "In reality, nobody is thinking anymore," the engineer concluded. "Everything is done by LLMs. It is so soul-sucking." The concerning tweet thread drew a somber reaction. Even X owner Elon Musk chimed in with a "[yikes]()." "We are turning an entire generation of technical experts around the world into the equivalent of retirees pushing a button in front of casino slot machines," podcast host and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya [responded](). "Essentially the brain rot of doom scrolling social media is coming for your development team..." The comments highlight an alarming fundamental shift, with AI tools effectively stripping engineers of the cognitive tasks they once found fulfilling. That tedium could result in companies pushing uninspired and buggy products. "The value of automated software is not making the software faster," Palihapitiya added. "It is understanding your intention and making the software BETTER." A recently-coined term perfectly describes this behavior: "[meat proxies]()," or people who regurgitate the output of AI chatbots verbatim without ever critically engaging with it. "Most software engineers are facing an identity crisis bordering on depression," VC firm Menlo Ventures partner Deedy Das [tweeted]() earlier this year. "The craftsmen are tired. Day after day, their workload grows. Bugs seep into production. No one seems to care. Another round of AI is thrown at it. Their animosity to their colleagues rises." "Eventually, they give up," he added. "The craft they loved is dead." **More on AI coding:** [*Software Engineers Are Facing an Existential Crisis As They Drown In Horrendous AI Code*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()