Simon Willison’s Weblog

The solution might be cancelling my AI subscription (via) I find this post by David Wilson very relatable. David lists 16+ projects he's spun up with AI tooling, and concludes:

I didn't mean to build most of these things. Usually the Claude session started with something like "write a quick script for X", and one hour later the result is not a quick script for X, nor in the usual case is my problem solved, whatever the original itch happened to be.

On that last point, this technology is horrific for attention. It's a thermonuclear ADHD amplifier and I have seen the same effect in every single one of my adult friends. Folk running 3 screens simultaneously working on totally unrelated "projects" they have little hope of maintaining, and such little commitment to the outcome that the time is obviously wasted.

This is a very real problem. I'm finding that coding agents can take me from a vague idea to a working solution, one with tests and documentation and that looks like a carefully considered project evolved over the course of many weeks... in less than an hour.

Even if the code is rock solid, there's a limit to how many projects like that I can sensibly care for - and if they're instantly abandoned, what value was there from creating them in the first place?

David doesn't think this is sustainable at all:

I have no idea how to manage AI at present except by curtailing use, because a tool producing a cheap reward with minimal input and no friction can only be a liability, and achieving that realisation is probably the only real contribution of AI to date.

I'm hopeful that the critical skill to develop here is discipline. That’s not great news for me: I’ve been trying to figure that one out for decades!

Interestingly, the Hacker News thread has gathered a number of comments from people with ADHD who are finding agents help them achieve the focus they've been missing:

• "... for me (also ADHD) it's kind of the opposite. I'm finishing side projects for the first time ever because I can actually get them working before I get bored of them"
• "As someone with ADHD I feel like AI is a salve for my mind. I used to listen to intense EDM while working. Now I sit in silence and talk to my agents. I maintain inbox zero. I absorb and comment across all relevant projects, even outside my team. I literally feel like I have a support team for the first time."
• "For those of us prone to hyperfocus, working with AI can provide the kinds of stimulation we crave. I can hardly remember a time when I've felt more engaged with my work, more productive, and more badass."

# 4:31 pm / productivity, ai, generative-ai, llms, coding-agents, ai-misuse