Hopefully this does not devolve into ‘nuh-uh’-‘it is too’ but I disagree.

Even putting aside the AI engineering part where you use a model as a brick in your program.

Classic programming is based on assumption that there is a formal strict input language. When programming I think in that language, I hold the data structures and connections in my head. When debugging I have intuition on what is going on because I know how the code works.

When working on somebody else’s code base I bisect, I try to find the abstractions.

When coding with AI this does not happen. I can check the code it outputs but the speed and quantity does not permit the same level of understanding unless I eschew all benefits of using AI.

When coding with AI I think about the context, the spec, the general shape of the code. When the code doesn’t build or crashes the first reflex is not to look at the code. It’s prompting AI to figure it out.