What's New: Hard truths about AI-assisted coding
(from the latest issue of the Indie Hackers newsletter)
Here's what you'll find in this issue:
- AI is making writing code faster, but it isn't resulting in higher-quality software.
- Top creators can now get monetized on Snapchat, but it comes with a cost.
- Fintech firm Klarna has essentially stopped hiring altogether, thanks to AI.
- $10K MRR with a productized service. Chris Poka recorded videos and posted them on X and LinkedIn to bring in new users.
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Hard truths about AI-assisted coding 🤯
AI-assisted coding’s early promise — generating code at breakneck speed — is running into a stubborn reality: Quality isn’t following quantity.
In this piece, Google engineer Addy Osmani breaks down the subtle factors behind AI’s “70% problem,” showing why it lets developers move faster, without actually raising the bar for what good code looks like. He explains how the very gaps that AI struggles to fill — nuanced architectural decisions, careful error handling, deep domain knowledge — reveal a new set of truths about learning to code, and building software that truly endures.
Snapchat launches a new creator Monetization Program 🚀
With 900M users, Snapchat is quietly the 9th largest social media network in the world. Accordingly, it also has a healthy creator economy.
Now, Snapchat's Monetization Program is making it easier for top creators to earn a living... but it's now harder for new creators to get started, since Snapchat has also updated its eligibility requirements.
Klarna has replaced 1K jobs with AI in a year 🤖
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski shared that the company stopped hiring new staff about a year ago, with many roles being replaced by AI.
He didn't specify exactly which roles were vanishing from the company, but Klarna said earlier this year that an AI assistant now handles about two-thirds of its customer service chats.
The Build Board 🪧
Every day, indie hackers post updates about the products they're building. Here's what the community voted to the top yesterday!
- Unicorn Platform 🦄: Simple landing page builder for makers.
- Laravel: The PHP framework for web artisans.
- Lenny's Newsletter: A weekly advice column about product, growth, and careers.
- Unicorns Club: Create your unicorn profile, and investors will follow you.
- Doxy: Turn Google Docs into your PDF automation powerhouse.
Enjoy building in public? Post an update to your product page on Indie Hackers, and it will automatically be added to the daily leaderboard.
Growing a productized service to $10K MRR 💰
Chris Poka couldn't break $3K MRR with his agency. Then, he started fresh, building a productized service called Designpulse. Now, he's nearly at the coveted $10K MRR milestone.
All of his first clients came through X and LinkedIn DMs. His suggestion? Try to post every day.
We'd love your feedback! 🏁
Did you like today's stories? Did they suck? Which ones?
We're constantly changing things up to make this newsletter more useful, so let us know what you think by replying directly to this email. We read every reply!
Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Addy Osmani, Stephen Flanders, Katie Hignett, and James Fleischmann for contributing posts. —Channing
I admire how you explain complex topics! On a similar note, EchoAPI has been an incredible addition to my VS Code setup for API testing.