I use whatever line completion is built into JetBrains out of the box. Other than that, no AI whatsoever.
Only about 10% of my time at work is actually spent writing code. At least double that time is spent reading code, and the rest is documentation, coordination, and communication work that depends on precise understanding of the code I’m responsible for. If I let AI write code, maybe (doubtfully) that would save a little time out of the 10%, but it would cost me dearly in the other two categories. The code I write by hand is minimal, clear, and easy to understand, and I understand it better because I wrote it myself. I understand all the code around it, too.
If you ask me, AI code generation is based entirely on non-programmers’ incorrect understanding of what programming is.
I worked at a company that made software for multi-level marketing companies (legalized pyramid schemes). Some of our clients sold snake oil remedies and were always getting in trouble for claiming they could cure cancer. I liked my coworkers and the job itself, but I hated the nature of what we were supporting.
I don’t think you can separate one from the other.
The company was always getting screwed over by dishonest clients, but we never sued because it would be bad for our reputation. The financial pressure grew until we started acting like a much dumber business: taking bad deals, outsourcing to cheap overseas teams, forcing everyone to work crazy hours, doubling up on the “we all have to make sacrifices” kool-aid, the list goes on. I didn’t stick around for long.
I’d do it again if I had to, to keep food on the table, but that experience taught me there’s no “right way” to operate in a bad industry. Eventually you either assimilate or go out of business.