To Read or Not to Read the Code? https://every.to/source-code/to-read-or-not-to-read-the-code 1 big thing: Don't miss this shift — AI is ready to run your work in the dark. Don't let it turn the lights out in your head too. Shipping more has never been easier. Understanding what you're shipping has never been more at risk. Why it matters: B2B marketers building AI-assisted workflows face the same trap engineers do. The system gets smarter. You get faster. But the judgment that makes you valuable — knowing which of two reasonable-sounding plans will hurt you six months from now — quietly erodes if you let AI handle everything without staying in the work. Driving the news: Kieran Klaassen, GM of Every's AI email product Cora, found himself shipping faster than ever while feeling his own thinking get softer. Researchers Margaret Mitchell, Avijit Ghosh, and Samir Passi confirmed the pattern — extended AI agent use measurably erodes the vigilance, critical thinking, and domain skill that human oversight depends on. → The phenomenon dates back to 1983 — called the "irony of automation" — where the more capable the automation, the more human skill erodes → AI just makes it move faster Zoom in: Klaassen's solution: build a deliberate loop for his own learning alongside the AI. → His four practices: keep a list of gaps, ask for mechanics not just diffs, recover the reasoning behind the code, and let the model quiz you Yes, but: This takes discipline most people won't apply. The excuse that you don't have time is exactly what AI removes — but the desire to learn has to come from you. Be smart: Audit one AI-assisted workflow you run today. Can you explain why it works? Can you catch it when it fails? If not, you have a judgment gap, not a tool gap. The bottom line: The tools that gave you an edge are becoming easy to copy. The judgment to know where to point them is not. https://every.to/source-code/to-read-or-not-to-read-the-code