I feel like the internet is programming me.

At this point it is impossible to tell if AI writes like people or people write like AI.

I know gas town made a splash here a while back and some colleagues promote software factories, but I haven’t seen much real output..have any of you?

I prefer the guided development approach where it’s a pretty detailed dialog with the LLM. The results are good but it’s hardly hands off.

If I squint I can almost see this fully automated development life cycle, so why aren’t there real life examples out there?

It was like science fiction becoming aware of this pattern, but as the OP says, this is indeed happening. Going to change the shape of tech careers for sure. my 2c.

What happens to all of these AI-native companies if the AI bubble is not able to survive in these conditions? If your current development process is built on the metabolic equivalent of 400kg of leaves per day[0], then when the allegorical asteroid hits, you're going to be outperformed by smaller, nimbler companies with much lower resource requirements. Those companies may be better suited for survival in hostile macro conditions.

In other words, I think a lot of companies believe that they're trimming their metabolic fat by replacing engineers with AI. Lower salary costs! But at the same time, they're also increasing their reliance on brittle energy infrastructure that may not survive this century. (Not to mention the brittleness of the semiconductor fabrication pipeline, RAM availability, etc)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatosaurus

Good luck to anyone cleaning up the mess.