AI will write code, but prepare to babysit it - and be sure you speak its language

This week on the Kettle, we predict that AI software development won't make you want to fire your devs anytime soon

kettle Tell an AI to write you a poem and it'll do it, just in a way that requires a human touch to perfect; the same goes for writing code.

El Reg Systems Editor Tobias Mann and Senior Reporter Tom Claburn join Brandon Vigliarolo on The Kettle this week to discuss the state of AI software development, a.k.a., "vibe coding."

Serving as the core of the discussion is Tom's story from earlier this week on research that found telling an AI it's an expert software developer actually makes it turn out worse code and what that means for the use of AI as a software development tool.

Our take? Sure, AI can write code - even sophisticated code - but you still need expert developers around to fix its ever-present errors and failures. In other words, companies that try to reduce the size of their dev teams on an AI bet might be making a mistake.

You can listen to The Kettle here, as well as on Spotify and Apple Music. ®