Ask HN: COBOL devs, how are AI coding affecting your work?

kept by eddie jan 20

COBOL developers find AI coding tools helpful for documentation and simple tasks but not yet a threat due to legacy system complexity and compliance constraints.

Anthropic touts AI for COBOL, IBM stock takes a hit
Anthropic's blog post suggesting Claude Code can rewrite COBOL apps contributed to a 13% IBM stock drop, despite IBM itself promoting similar AI tools since 2023.
also on COBOL, #mainframe, IBM, Anthropic, #ai-coding, #developer-tools
The Evolution of the Agent Harness - by Dan McAteer
The article argues that as AI models internalize agent harness capabilities, the remaining harness evolves into an interface for managing scarce human attention rather than directing model behavior.
also on Devin, Anthropic, #ai-coding, #developer-tools
The Untrainable - Sarah Guo
As AI models commoditize measurable tasks, lasting value lies in 'untrainable' work requiring private data, trust, organizational change, and domain-specific authority.
also on Devin, Anthropic
Don't let the LLM speak, just probe it. - by James Padolsey
By extracting an LLM's hidden state at the last prompt token and training a small MLP, you get a fast, calibrated classifier for any English criterion.
also on IBM, #developer-tools
Massive demand from AI data centers drives up computer memory prices : NPR
AI-driven demand for memory in data centers has caused RAM prices to double or more, challenging the expectation that tech continually gets cheaper.
also on IBM