AI, the "bad engineer" I didn't need
My current feelings about AI and HW/FW
RANTS
Chris Jonkman
5/15/2026
AI, the bad engineer I didn’t need.
AI is like the bad engineer(s) that every company has. It can’t solve any problem on its own.
-It types some code, then calls the talented engineer to come help get it to compile.
-It tries debugging the code, then calls the talented engineer to troubleshoot why it doesn’t work.
-It throws some ICs on a schematic, then calls the talented engineer to connect them in an intelligent way.
Inevitably, the talented engineers get annoyed that the bad engineer still makes 80% of what they do and get tired of helping. Eventually, it becomes highly questionable whether bad engineer showing up is even a net positive.
Disclaimer: This is mostly tongue-in-cheek and more an indictment of how upper management types erroneously view the state of AI than my feelings about AI itself. It absolutely has uses and is a time saver for many tasks, but for now and for quite some time the idea that it can just design and debug a complex analog circuit or write real time, deterministic embedded code is ridiculous.
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