# The danger of glamourizing one shots

DevFeed: [The danger of glamourizing one shots](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-danger-of-glamourizing-one-shots-21857.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.hanselman.com/blog/the-danger-of-glamourizing-one-shots>)

Author: Scott Hanselman

Published: 2026-02-04T05:53:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Scott Hanselman](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/scott-hanselman.md>)

Topics: [Artificial Intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai.md>), [coding](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/coding.md>), [sdlc](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/sdlc.md>), [context](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/context.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [coding](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/coding.md>), [context](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/context.md>), [musings](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/musings.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [sdlc](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sdlc.md>)

## AI overview

This commentary argues that AI-augmented coding should not be judged by impressive one-shot demonstrations such as generating a game from a familiar name. Those prompts conceal substantial semantic guidance, while more specific goals, stable systems, software development practices, historical context, and sound judgment remain important.

## Source excerpt

People should not be judging AI-augmented coding by "1 shots." If someone told you that their model did a "one shot of Minecraft" and they're impressed by that, you need to consider how much semantic heavy lifting the word "Minecraft" is doing in that prompt. Ask them to one shot Minecraft without using the word Minecraft. It's not trivial to one shot something unique, because programming is the art of making the ambiguous incredibly specific through sculpting. AI sculpting is less about vibes and more about finding the specificity you want and keeping the system stable through changes. Good SDLC practices still matter, historical context still matters, and knowing how things work matters, shout out to Grady Booch. It's a cool party trick to one shot Mario Brothers or space invaders, but then you'll end up with the most mid version of both. Literally mid. You'll get the statistical fat part of the Bell curve version of these mythical games. You're telling the model to close its eyes and draw the face of these games from memory. As high-level programming cedes way to the prose compiler, making your goals and specs well understood to the ambiguity loop and showing good judgment is going to matter more than ever. Consider all of your words and make sure that certain words aren't carrying all the semantic load, hidden or otherwise. © 2025 Scott Hanselman. All rights reserved.