Josh Karamuth

The Programmer's New Role: Guiding AI Code Generation Learn how programmers are evolving from coders to AI guides—see a Python example proving why human expertise still matters.

Read the full post here: joshkaramuth.com/blog/program...

The best devs in 5 years won’t be the fastest coders.

They’ll be the best at:

- Explaining problems to AI
- Anticipating hidden requirements
- Designing for change

Are you thinking this way yet?

The new job of programmers:

✅ Not writing code
✅ Not even reviewing code
✅ Debugging the AI’s understanding of the problem

3️⃣ So you teach the AI:

- Add tests for edge cases
- Make logic configurable
- Document assumptions

Now the code is robust, not just working.

2️⃣ A junior dev might ship the AI’s first draft.

A senior dev immediately spots gaps:

- Edge cases? (Leap years, time zones)
- Biz rules? (Does week start Sun or Mon?)
- Future changes? (Hardcoded = tech debt)

1️⃣ You ask an AI: "Write a function to get the first/last day of the week."
It spits out code that looks right.

But is it actually right?

Spoiler: No. Not yet.

The future of programming isn’t writing code—it’s teaching AI how to write it.

The best devs no longer just solve problems. They guide LLMs to solve them correctly and sustainably.

Here’s how the shift works: 🧵

Agreed, using MCPs make me feel like a wizard. Nice writeup.

DeepSeek R1 also makes planning features cheap and dead simple.

If you're a programmer, you can't go wrong with DeepSeek until Gemini 2.5 Pro comes out of the experimental stage.

Overall, I'm not impressed by the quality that Claude provides vs DeepSeek when factoring the quality to cost ratio. Since I'm a programmer, I use the latter with my own knowledge to guide it properly.

For context, coding an entire CRUD app cost about $5 with Claude, but only $0.10 with DeepSeek.

If you're not a programmer, you should stick with Claude because it's going to provide good quality code most of the time.

If you're a programmer, or if you have a programmer who can help you out, use DeepSeek because you can use your own knowledge to correct it.

Gemini 2.5 is like magic but the rate limits make it unusable for serious coding sessions. We'll have to wait until a proper version is released to switch to it.

Claude has decent quality, but is way too expensive. Which means...

When it comes to quality:

Gemini > Claude > DeepSeek

However...

I've been vibe coding todo apps using DeepSeek V3, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Gemini 2.5 Pro. Here's what I learned 👇🏽

Great idea! One of my least favorite parts of Django is having to write custom nodes for basic logic.

Same, except I also want to have enough time to read a ton of books, and take more walks in nature.

ANTIDOTES HE’D IGNORE:

- Touch grass
- Have a bad conversation
- Draw a stick figure

Create, don’t critique. Log off, read Dostoevsky, then log off again. Fin.

WHY IT MATTERS:

Dostoevsky shows how isolation weaponizes intelligence. The Underground Man’s tragedy?

He’d rather be “right” alone than vulnerable IRL. (Replace “underground” with “Twitter/X drafts.”)

COMPLAINING AS A LIFESTYLE

The Underground Man hates math, society, himself.

Today? 10-paragraph vents about minor annoyances (“DAE hate loud chewers?!”) to farm validation.

Same cry, different century.

OVERFICTION PROBLEMS

He invents grievances to feed his self-pity. Modern version: arguing about hypothetical ethics in niche subreddits at 2 AM.

Not to fix anything—to *feel* superior. Classic.

ISOLATION = IMAGINED SUPERIORITY

He stews alone, convinced he’s smarter than everyone… while hating himself. Sound like anyone in your replies?

*“I am alone, and they are everyone.”*

Replace “they” with “normies.” Same energy.

The Underground Man in Dostoevsky’s *Notes from the Underground* isn’t a 19th-century relic.

He’s the blueprint for every terminally online intellectual. Let’s break it down.

I've been reading Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky and I built a mental image of the protagonist.

For some reason, the image is that of someone who uses Reddit a lot.

"Always be pitching"

Redundant Linux backups with a single command Set up military-grade, cost-effective backups with Borgmatic—combining local USB and Hetzner cloud storage—in just 15 minutes, ensuring your data is safe even if your laptop takes a coffee bath.

Full walkthrough:
joshkaramuth.com/blog/linux-b...

Don't be the "I'll set up backups tomorrow" person. Your future self will high-five you.

The sysadmin seal of approval:

🔐 Keys stay yours
🚫 Zero trust in cloud providers
📦 Versioned backups going back months
⏳ Years of protection

"Wait, what if...?"

USB not plugged in? → Skips gracefully

Storage Box full? → Auto-prunes old backups

Internet down? → Local copy still safe

It's like having a backup for your backup

The magic trick?

1. Plug USB
2. Run one config
3. Borgmatic auto-syncs to:

- Your desk drawer
- Hetzner's bunker-like data centers

Set it → forget it → sleep better

Why this combo slaps:

✅ Local USB for fast recovery
✅ Cloud for redundancy
✅ 15-min setup (seriously)
✅ Costs less than Netflix

Survival strategy for $4/month

Meet Borg, Borgmatic, and Hetzner:

- Creates time-machine-like backups
- Deduplicates like a digital Marie Kondo
- Encrypts with NSA-approved technology
- Human readable configuration
- One command to backup to...
- Hetzner Storage Box ($4/TB) = Almost free storage
- Local USB drive