{
  "id": 2126340,
  "title": "How Code in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Becomes Write-Only and Disposable",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/how-code-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence-becomes-write-only-and",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-20T11:25:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "InfoQ",
    "slug": "infoq",
    "url": "https://www.infoq.com/news/2026/08/code-AI-write-only-disposable/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the era of artificial intelligence, software code becomes difficult to comprehend and maintain, leading to it being treated as write-only. Phillip Mortimer, speaking at QCon London, explained that AI-generated code is so complex that humans cannot easily review it at scale. Instead, developers should focus on writing extensive tests to define the behavior of the code. Tests then serve as the documentation, as reading the input-output pairs helps understand what the code is intended to accomplish.\n\nMortimer also discussed the concept of disposable code. Given the challenges in debugging write-only code, it is often more efficient to rewrite the code rather than attempt to modify existing code. Developers should prioritize automating code reviews and allowing AI agents to self-heal software using observability data. By leveraging AI coding agents, they can review generated code, catch bugs, and raise pull requests to fix issues discovered through observability platforms.\n\nMortimer emphasized the importance of separating intent from implementation. As developers become more portable across programming languages, the focus on creativity becomes crucial. Creativity is an iterative process, requiring time and space to think and work without the distractions of daily tasks. While constraints can be beneficial, they should be balanced with opportunities for exploration and innovation.\n\nTo foster creativity within organizations, Mortimer suggested providing developers with the necessary time and space to work independently, away from meetings and other day-to-day demands. He also recommended scheduling regular breaks to allow developers to focus on hard problems and engage in creative thinking. Finally, Mortimer highlighted that the drive for hyper-velocity engineering leaves little time for reflection and creative work, making it more important than ever for developers to embrace a creative mindset in their daily tasks.",
  "summary": "Artificial intelligence (AI) makes all code write-only,. It’s too dense to read, and tests define the behaviour and become the documentation. Code is also disposable; it becomes easier to rewrite than to debug. Humans can't review AI-generated code at scale. Intent decouples from implementation; developers should focus on creativity. By Ben Linders",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}