Story
The West forgot how to make things, now it’s forgetting how to code
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Overview
In 2023, Raytheon’s president revealed that restarting Stinger missile production required bringing back engineers in their 70s to educate younger workers on using outdated paper schematics. Test equipment had been unused for years, and the nose cone was still manually attached, mirroring production methods from forty years prior.
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Hacker News · techtrenches.dev
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Based on 5 sampled comments from this thread. Analyzed 2026-04-26.
- Praise: AI can reduce brain effort in certain domains, potentially freeing up cognitive resources for more complex tasks, which can enhance overall productivity.
- Praise: Using AI tools for code review allows developers to maintain their skills while benefiting from automation, creating a balance between efficiency and personal growth.
- Concern: AI code generators often produce plausible but incorrect content, leading to frustration as developers must spend time identifying and correcting errors.
- Concern: Dependence on AI for coding tasks can diminish critical thinking and problem-solving skills, raising concerns about the long-term impact on developers' abilities.