What happens when software development gets upended by AI? According to Scott Werner, we’re all improvising—and that might be the only honest answer.

The Wild West of AI-Driven Development

Scott Werner’s essay, Nobody Knows How To Build With AI Yet, is a must-read snapshot of the modern AI development experience: exhilarating, uncertain, and utterly unpredictable. Werner invites us behind the scenes as he builds “Protocollie” in four days—not by mastering every detail, but by collaborating with an AI and improvising each step.

The most striking realization? There is no longer a set path or best practice for building with AI. What worked yesterday may already be obsolete. Documentation, if it exists, is more like a time capsule of one developer’s process than a blueprint for others.

Expertise: Out the Window

Werner challenges the myth of expertise in this era. In a world where AI tools, workflows, and even “the rules” change every few weeks, everyone—veterans and newcomers alike—is a beginner. “We’re all making this up as we go,” he writes, with a mix of humility and thrill.

His “four-document system,” cobbled together out of necessity rather than design, illustrates this point. The documents aren’t definitive; they’re just artifacts of one experiment, already nostalgic by the time they’re published. What matters isn’t following a set of instructions, but being willing to experiment, iterate, and leave markers for yourself (and maybe others) along the way.

Sandcastles at Low Tide

The essay’s strength lies in its metaphors: AI development is like jazz improvisation, sandcastle building, or throwing spaghetti at the wall. The sticking isn’t what matters—the act of throwing is. In this landscape, the most valuable skill isn’t syntax or architecture, but the ability to express clear intent, communicate with your AI “pair programmer,” and let go of any illusion of permanence.

Documentation? Less a how-to manual, more a set of “messages to future confused versions of ourselves.”

Why You Should Read This

If you’re a developer, technical lead, or just someone curious about how AI is changing work, Werner’s reflections will resonate. They offer a mix of hard-won wisdom, permission to experiment, and an honest look at the anxiety and exhilaration of the new normal.

Memorable Line:
“Maybe all methodology is just mutually agreed-upon fiction that happens to produce results.”

Want to Go Deeper?

• What does it mean to be an “expert” when tools and workflows change weekly?
• How can we create documentation that helps others without pretending to have all the answers?
• What risks and rewards come with building “sandcastles at low tide”?

Read the original essay if you want to see what it really feels like on the front lines of AI-powered creation. And then? Make your own trail markers—someone else might find them, or you might just need them yourself next week.

Who should read this?
Developers, tech leaders, innovation managers, and anyone excited (or a bit terrified) by the rapid evolution of AI in software.