AI Speeds Up Code Writing But Doesn't Reduce the Cost of Owning Software

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AI coding tools genuinely accelerate development — cutting tasks that once took hours down to minutes — but faster code generation does not automatically translate to cheaper or safer software. A senior engineering leader reflects on how a subtle, hard-to-spot bug in clean-looking, AI-assisted code passed review undetected, only surfacing later through unexpected downstream behaviour. The incident highlighted that while code production has become cheaper, the harder work of understanding, reviewing, and maintaining that code remains stubbornly human and time-intensive. The real economic shift, the author argues, is that generation costs have fallen while ownership costs have stayed the same or grown more exposed. Unmanaged leverage — producing more code with less friction — amplifies weaknesses in review practices, testing discipline, and engineering judgment rather than eliminating them.

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