Beyond the Hype: Real Talk on AI-Assisted Development • Jessica Kerr & Diana Montalion

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. https://gotopia.tech Jessica Kerr - Engineering Manager of Developer Relation at Honeycomb.io & Symmathecist Diana Montalion - Systems Architect, Mentrix Founder & Author of "Learning Systems Thinking" RESOURCES Jessica https://bsky.app/profile/jessitron.bsky.social https://linkedin.com/in/jessicakerr https://www.twitch.tv/jessitronica https://jessitron.com Diana https://bsky.app/profile/dianamontalion.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianamontalion https://montalion.com https://learningsystemsthinking.com DESCRIPTION Systems architect Diana Montalion and engineering manager Jessica Kerr cut through the AI coding hype to explore what these tools actually do well - and where they have room for improvement. Moving beyond the "AI will replace developers" narrative, they reveal how AI assistants excel at the tedious work of typing, scaffolding, and error handling while remaining surprisingly bad at the nuanced thinking that experienced developers bring to complex systems. Their discussion illuminates a more mature relationship with AI tools: one where developers maintain agency over design decisions while leveraging AI"s strengths in automation, synthesis, and rapid prototyping. The result is a pragmatic roadmap for using AI to amplify human expertise rather than replace it. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Diana Montalion • Learning Systems Thinking • https://amzn.to/3ZpycdJ Andrew Harmel-Law • Facilitating Software Architecture • https://amzn.eu/d/5kZKVfU Donella H. Meadows • Thinking in Systems • https://amzn.to/3XtqYCV Yu-kai Chou • Actionable Gamification • https://amzn.to/45D8bHA Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!