Ask HN: Do you struggle with flow state when using AI assisted coding tools?

I totally relate to this. Sometimes I think I can do my ideas quicker but when I try to do that it ends up taking more time. So I learned waiting for AI to respond is a better use of my time.

I keep a notepad open with my ideas and thoughts as AI working and reading the code. Writing down my thoughts and use that for my next prompt.

Unrelated but I also noticed that using a lot of AI for coding often leads to over-engineered solutions. Instead of fixing the backend to return a proper audio format it suggests bringing FFMPEG to the browser and transcode for instance. It's important to be aware of this and keep asking AI if there are better ways to do things

I'm working on test scenarios (in natural language) after defining my initial task to keep my mind on the same topic. Edge cases to test, implementation details to check, log traces where it makes sense,... Basically crystalizing my vision of what the code should do and look like, so I can check against the implemented version.

Actually it’s both : you wait a long time and then you are thrown hundreds of LOC to review.

For me, it's not just boredom, it's missing the little thrills.

When I have a project that has tons of forms that require complex validation, it's the little thrill of thinking of a way to do it that saves time and is reusable.

Maybe I'll create a js proxy object and a generic "change" event handler. In the "change" I'll assign a value to the proxy that's the name of the form component. Maybe this proxy object is smart enough to issue batches of JSONPatch mutations to the server, that handles validation biz logic etc... so I end up with this neat, elegant little solution to a tedious problem. I get a thrill of satisfaction when it all works great, and the joy of problem solving to create and debug it.

Exactly zero out of a million runs would an AI come up with something like that. It's a stochastic parrot.

But it'll happily chug along and generate 10,000 lines of repetitive forms code that mostly work, and done in the most tedious way imaginable.

But I guess it's more "productive" than me.

Each time I run in to a tedious or boring problem, I take joy in pushing the boundaries of my understanding to come up with a better way of solving it.

AI coding kills that completely.

This hits home quite clearly.

I'm just starting to think that coding won't ever be a fun thing anymore. Just another boring, mind-numbing thing I do for money.

I'll get a hobby I guess.