The Hidden Cost of Feeling Productive: AI Coding and (Expensive) Automation Bias

The real cost of AI coding tools isn't just measured in dollars—it's measured in the dangerous gap between feeling productive and actually being productive. When developers kick off multiple AI agents in parallel, watching them work simultaneously creates a powerful dopamine hit that feels like incredible productivity. But this feeling masks a serious problem: automation bias, the well-documented psychological phenomenon where people over-rely on automated systems and fail to notice when they make errors. The more reliable these tools become, the more dangerous this bias gets, because developers stop checking and stop questioning the AI's output.

The solution isn't to abandon AI coding tools, but to use them with discipline. The "budgeted work session" approach—setting spending caps, demanding plans first, requiring frequent commits, and staying engaged throughout the process—forces developers to treat AI as a pair programming partner rather than a fire-and-forget tool. This maintains strategic thinking even when using tools that enable tactical speed. The key principle: treat AI assistance like a very smart intern who needs specific instructions, frequent check-ins, and careful review. Because at the end of the day, the value of a developer isn't in typing speed—it's in judgment, and that's not something AI can replicate yet.

In today's news, the U.S. government is preparing to ban TP-Link wireless routers and networking equipment, citing national security risks from Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups that have been abusing compromised routers since 2021. Montana has become the first state to legally protect citizens' "right to compute," enshrining access to computational tools and AI technologies as a fundamental right. A creative maker built a 2.5 kilowatt-hour battery pack from 500 disposable vapes to power their workshop, highlighting both the scale of e-waste and the serious safety risks of handling lithium-ion batteries. Plus, the government shutdown ended, Sam Altman invested in a gene-editing startup, and TSMC announced a $100 billion expansion of U.S. chip manufacturing.

Links

Main segment

• How AI Coding Tools Quietly Drain Your Wallet
• Cursor AI Pricing Documentation
• Paul Graham's essays on programming
• Anthropic Claude 4 Models
• OpenAI GPT Models
• GitHub Copilot
• Cursor IDE

News

• Drilling Down on Uncle Sam's Proposed TP-Link Ban
• Montana becomes first state to enshrine 'right to compute' into law
• Building a 2.5kWh battery from disposable vapes to power my workshop [video]
• Government Shutdown Ends After Senate Vote
• Sam Altman Invests in Gene-Editing Startup Preventive
• TSMC Announces $100 Billion Investment in US Chip Plants