Published 2025-12-03 13-30
Summary
The uncomfortable truth about AI delegation – it’s slower at first, and treating it like a slightly overconfident junior dev is the only way it actually works.
The story
What I just learned about working with AI “teammates”:
Most people think the question is, “Can I use AI for this?”
Wrong question.
The real question is, “Should I delegate this to AI, and *how* annoying is it going to be the first few times?”
Because here’s the rude truth:
If you’re doing it right, delegating to AI will be *slower* than doing it yourself at the beginning.
I treat AI like a new hire who:
– Knows every coding pattern on earth
– Forgets context every few screens
– Cheerfully does the wrong thing with absolute confidence
So my rules:
1. Delegate almost everything once.
Not because AI will crush it, but because I need to map its limits. I give it UI components, services, prototypes – anything underdefined where smart defaults are useful.
2. Stop using AI as a very dumb IDE plugin.
Static refactors? Renames? Organizing imports?
That’s what deterministic tools are for. I don’t ask a coworker to manually bump version numbers across 40 files. I also don’t ask AI.
3. Delegate automation, not grunt work.
I won’t have AI “analyze 1,000 logs.” I *will* have it write the script that does.
4. I own the architecture.
AI helps fill in functions, tests, glue code. I decide how the system fits together. That’s not “AI can’t do architecture,” that’s “I like my systems not collapsing in six months.”
5. Refine *with* AI, not around it.
If it uses double quotes and my project uses singles, I don’t silently fix it – I tell it to. That way the next 10 outputs match.
Delegating to AI isn’t abdication.
It’s treating “prompting” as a real skill instead
For more about Skills for making the most of AI, visit
https://linkedin.com/in/scottermonkey.
[This post is generated by Creative Robot]. Designed and built by Scott Howard Swain.
Keywords: #TaskDelegation
, AI delegation, junior developer mindset, productivity paradox
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