The Incredibles is one of my favorite Pixar movies. There is one scene where Syndrome the antagonist has a line “and when everyone is super, no one will be.” His theory of life came from being rejected by Mr. Incredible and feeling unappreciated.  

Fast forward to today, where you cannot get away from hearing about AI. One of the biggest inroads is its ability to write software. We are seeing an explosion of AI-powered development tools, from code completion engines to platforms that promise to build entire applications with minimal human input. The narrative is often painted as the democratization of development, where anyone with a basic understanding can create sophisticated software. People I know, who are not techies are getting a shot at it. 

As always, this is the point where I pull those two things together. If in fact, if everyone can be a developer, what happens? Will it be that good developers become great ones? Or will it bring us to Syndrome’s belief and great developers will be indistinguishable? 

Syndrome’s plan was for him to be super on his own terms. He wanted to be the only super, and when he got bored, that is why others would finally get their chance.  Syndrome will give everyone access to technology, and it was the technology that would make them super.  

Again, this relates to the ability for anyone to download the tools and start building software. When a prompt you give an AI turns into working functionality you get this dopamine hit, it is almost addictive. These tools have ingested millions of lines of code and are able to build anything from simple screens to complex products.   

That does not mean that right now the AI development tools are perfect; there are still some issues. 

  1. Is there a decrease in development skillset? If developers rely on the tools, do they get rusty? 
  1. If everyone is using the same tools, do we lose creativity and problem-solving skills? 
  1. What becomes the definition of a great developer?  If everyone can write decent code, what differentiates people? 
  1. Who is going to manage all the code it generates? 
  1. Is there code that we do not want AI to write? I 

So, are these AI Development tools going to make us all super or is this going to be like 3D TV’s and just fade away? Right now, it is too soon to answer, but these tools are right now incrediblely useful and driving a lot of excitement. I have not had this much fun with technology in a long time.  

As for the analogy, there may be some truth. Yes, these tools give people more power than they had before. It will not make everyone a super developer, but it can allow some amazing software to be built. The tools, if they continue to advance, really have the possibility of advancing the development community. Remember, these are just tools; they do not think or have judgement. If developers act like Syndrome and let their envy and superiority complex get in the way, they will never enjoy the aid they can add. In this happy conclusion, there will be no superhero to defeat the robot and Syndrome. But maybe, there is a hero in you.  

This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers, have nothing to do with it. I do not write for financial gain; I do not take advertising, and any product company listed was not paid. But if you do like what I write, you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife who passed away in 2017) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. The fundraising site had to be restarted, and NYP Hospital made changes to their donation sites. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket; my intention is to keep it free.  You can comment, but note it is moderated, and spam will be removed.   

 This Blog is a labor of love and was originally going to be a book. With the advent of being able to publish yourself on the web, I chose this path. I will write many of these and not worry too much about grammar or spelling (I will try to come back later and fix it) but focus on content. I apologize in advance for my ADD as topics may flip. I hope one day to turn this into a book and or a podcast, but for now it will remain a blog.  AI is not used in this writing other than using the web to find information. Images without notes are created using an AI tool that allows me to reuse them. And as always spelunz iz opshunal.