the five levels

Author: ntk148v

article-notes/the-five-levels-from-spicy-autocomplete-to-the-software-factory.md

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+# The Five Levels: from Spicy Autocomplete to the Dark Factory
+
+Source:
+
+- <https://www.danshapiro.com/blog/2026/01/the-five-levels-from-spicy-autocomplete-to-the-software-factory/>
+- <https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jan/28/the-five-levels/>
+
+0. Spicy autocomplete, aka original GitHub Copilot or copying and pasting snippets from ChatGPT.
+1. The coding intern, writing unimportant snippets and boilerplate with full human review.
+2. The junior developer, pair programming with the model but still reviewing every line.
+3. The developer. Most code is generated by AI, and you take on the role of full-time code reviewer.
+4. The engineering team. You're more of an engineering manager or product/program/project manager. You collaborate on specs and plans, the agents do the work.
+5. The dark software factory, like a factory run by robots where the lights are out because robots don't need to see.
+
+![](https://www.danshapiro.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image.png)
+
+![](https://www.danshapiro.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1.png)
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+![](https://www.danshapiro.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-2.png)
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+![](https://www.danshapiro.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-3.png)
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+![](https://www.danshapiro.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-5.png)
+
+![](https://www.danshapiro.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-8.png)
+
+<https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/7/software-factory/>