Only humans can say ‘I don’t know’
Coding agents are skilled and energetic developers, but they can be too energetic, confidently charging off and doing things without stopping when they aren’t sure about the destination. They might ask you questions, but they might not. They might make certain assumptions you never expected and take action based on those assumptions. One thing you’ll probably never hear a coding agent say is “Hmm. I’m not sure” — and there are times when that definitely needs to be said.
Only humans can initiate a software project
As I write this, my Claude Code instance isn’t doing anything. Why? Because I haven’t given him any task to do. Sure, he can write great code, but only if I set the wheel in motion. He won’t do a single thing without my sparking an idea and deciding to implement it.
Only humans have good taste
If we let coding agents have their way, every website in the world would look pretty much the same. They’d be structured with the same banner and card layout that is so familiar to us. Coding agents will gladly alter the theme if we ask them to, but if we don’t ask them to, the generic look that agents are known for would become the norm. The notion of “looks good” is completely human.
