AI coding is addictive. Engineers are paying the price

Chantal Kapani on the gambling-machine quality of AI coding: intermittent rewards, an immediate next step to every problem, and no natural stopping points. 45 per cent of engineers report working more hours than last year, and CTO burnout has more than doubled. Steve Yegge compares the random rewards to casinos: “your brain gets a chemical bath”. Suggested defences are unexciting but sane: time-box sessions, separate exploration from execution, treat recovery as maintenance.