The Pace Of Feedback

Using the metaphor of controlling pace with physical tools (from handsaws to factory robots), this piece argues that developers must maintain their perceive-decide-act cycle when working with AI coding tools. LLMs can generate code faster than humans can meaningfully review it, creating a dangerous illusion of progress. In production environments especially, developers remain accountable for every line of code and cannot abdicate oversight to AI. The recommendation is to treat LLMs as controlled task tools rather than autonomous agents, keeping the human in the loop at a pace they can genuinely manage.