> AI coding has created a strange inversion: writing code is becoming cheap, while understanding what all that code will do together is becoming expensive
I'm pretty sure it has always been that way. Isn't that the reason for the whole field of Software Engineering?
Maybe better to say the volume of code that looks superficially correct has dramatically increased. That velocity is overwhelming the rate at which existing practices could gate the flow to production.
Similar to moving from bespoke car manufacturing to a production line. The tolerance checking had to evolve in step with the rate of car production.