Why this conversation
This question is a proxy for whether you will let a team's fundamentals rot. The answer that works names what you delegate, what you keep, and why the line is where it is, with one example where the line saved you.
Dialogue
Sofie: How do you use AI in your work? Be specific.
Jay: I split tasks into errands and walks. Errands go to the agent: literature and API surveys, refactoring inside a module whose interface I've fixed, test scaffolding, proofreading, and code review for the things a linter misses. Walks I do by hand: the design of a boundary, the first invariant test on anything that moves money, and any bug I don't yet understand. The line is there because the walks are where I learn the system, and a lead who stops learning the system can't review anything.
Sofie: Give me a time the line mattered.
Jay: Last spring an agent proposed a settlement change that passed every test we had. I made myself trace the payout path by hand before approving, which took an hour I resented. The change double-counted fees on refunds, a case no test covered. If I had treated that as an errand, it would have shipped. So now, for anything touching payouts, the first review is a walk, and I write the missing test before I write the approval.
Sofie: Doesn't that slow your team down?
Jay: It slows the ten percent that can lose money and speeds up the ninety that can't. And for juniors I'm stricter the other way: they walk more than I do, because the routine bugs are how they become the people who can review the agent later. If the agent takes all of those, in three years I have a team that can prompt and can't judge.
Sofie: What do you do when the agent is confidently wrong?
Jay: Treat it like a well-read colleague who's had two drinks. Ask for the reasoning step by step, run the step that can be run, and never accept a claim about money without a number I can reproduce. It's a useful colleague. It's not a witness.
Key expressions
| Expression | 뜻 · 쓰이는 자리 |
|---|---|
| errands and walks | 심부름과 걷기(위임할 일과 직접 할 일) |
| whose interface I've fixed | 내가 인터페이스를 고정한 |
| a bug I don't yet understand | 아직 이해하지 못한 버그 |
| an hour I resented | 짜증났던 한 시간 |
| a case no test covered | 어떤 테스트도 다루지 않은 케이스 |
| it would have shipped | 출시됐을 것이다 |
| stricter the other way | 반대 방향으로 더 엄격한 |
| can prompt and can't judge | 프롬프트는 할 수 있고 판단은 못 하는 |
| confidently wrong | 자신 있게 틀린 |
| a number I can reproduce | 내가 재현할 수 있는 숫자 |
| it's not a witness | 그것은 증인이 아니다 |