If You Don’t Want to Be Replaced by a Robot, Don’t Act Like a Robot

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Here’s a rant I’ve been sitting on, and it’s time to let it out. In the modern software development landscape, there’s an unsettling trend: we pretend that the perfect project flow is a conveyor belt, and the only thing slowing us down is “imperfect” specification. Every sprint, there are grumbles about user stories that aren’t “detailed enough.” Requirements are “ambiguous.” Technical specifications are “not precise.” The solution? Some folks want every story described down to the last pixel and API endpoint.

But let’s be honest—if your user story is so meticulously detailed that it could be blindly handed off to an AI and executed bug-free, you’ve already written away your role. If all that’s needed is a flawless mechanical transcription, why not just give it to the robots? Is that really what we want our jobs to be: just typing out the answer in code because the thinking has all been pre-solved? Where’s the challenge, the dialogue, the creative spark?

A user story is a spark for a conversation, not the whole fire. Its purpose is to bring together everyone who actually makes a product—developers, QA, designers, domain experts, and more. The real value is in how we navigate uncertainty, clarify ambiguities, and collectively shape the solution. If you’re only satisfied with detailed, unassailable specs, your job is at risk of becoming mechanical execution. And mechanical work is exactly what robots excel at.

So here’s my plea:

  • Don’t make yourself replaceable.
  • Don’t act like a robot if you don’t want to be replaced by one.
  • Embrace ambiguity. Start a conversation. Be the human glue that connects expertise, context, and creativity.

After all, software isn’t just about writing code that matches a checklist. It’s about solving problems together—problems so complex that no amount of upfront specification can do all the heavy lifting.

So next time you wish for specs that leave no room for interpretation, pause and ask yourself: are you fighting for your craft, or for your future replacement?

Let’s keep the conversation alive.