Coding Like a Surgeon: Using AI Tools to Focus on High-Value Design Work
By
simonw
Hot, fresh, and worth queueing round the block for.
Summary
The article argues against the common view that AI will turn everyone into managers or editors, proposing instead that professionals should aim to "code like a surgeon" - focusing on high-value, specialized work while leveraging AI tools to handle secondary tasks. The author, a UI prototyper, explains their goal of using AI coding tools to spend 100% of their time on meaningful design work rather than administrative or repetitive coding tasks.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledA lot of people say AI will make us all 'managers' or 'editors'...but I think this is a dangerously incomplete view!
Personally, I'm trying to code like a surgeon.
A surgeon isn't a manager, they do the actual work! But their skills and time are highly leveraged with a support team that handles prep, secondary tasks, admin.
My current goal with AI coding tools is to spend 100% of my time doing stuff that matters. (As a UI prototyper, that mostly means tinkering with design concepts.)
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