If ChatGPT Writes Your Code, What Are You Getting Paid For?

I used Claude to write a function last week. Took thirty seconds. Would've taken me twenty minutes.

So what did I do for the other nineteen and a half?

When was the last time you wrote a for-loop from memory? When did you last implement quicksort without checking syntax? Do you remember what year you stopped memorizing standard library functions?

We've been "cheating" forever. Google. Stack Overflow. That one GitHub repo you always copy-paste from. Your coworker's code from three years ago.

So why does AI feel different?

Here's what I think I'm actually paid for, and I want to know if you agree:

Knowing which problem to solve first?

Understanding why the CEO's "simple request" will break everything?

Explaining to the PM why "just add a button" means three weeks of refactoring?

Deciding not to build the thing?

Knowing when the 300-line function ChatGPT gave me is technically correct but architecturally wrong?

Reviewing the PR at 4 p.m. and catching the bug that would've cost $40k?

Sitting in the incident channel at midnight taking responsibility?

But here's the uncomfortable part: how much of your day is actually that?

How much is just... typing?

And if it's mostly typing, what happens when typing isn't the constraint anymore?

I don't think AI is replacing developers. But I think it's asking us a question we've been avoiding:

What were we really doing all along?

Were you solving problems, or were you translating solutions into syntax? Because only one of those is going away.

So I'm curious: when you use AI to write code, what are you doing while it types? What's happening in your head that the AI can't do?

And more importantly—is that the thing your company is paying for?