There is a difference between AIs

I constantly see promises of free lunches across the web and software development landscape. Unrealistically cheap website offers from agencies and the impression of all-powerful AI are leaving a very false understanding of reality.

I often draw parallels between software development and real construction work. Having an excavator and a jackhammer doesn't mean your local grocery store manager will personally build the shop. The same applies to AI in software development and design. A plumber who wants a website won't become a developer overnight.

There is a difference between AIs. Anyone who can type can write their wildest wishes to ChatGPT. If that wish is a website, the chatbot can handle it quite nicely. Things get complicated when we ask "what's next?" Infrastructure, optimization, security, integrations, monitoring, features, and much more that I won't list here for brevity. Software development is surgery, not slapping a band-aid on top.

Fact — development prices are getting (and have gotten) cheaper thanks to AI tools, but they will never drop to pocket-change levels. The client pays for years of experience, not for someone writing a single prompt on their behalf. That experience baggage contained massive amounts of code and learning before AI arrived. AI is just another tool we've learned to tame and orchestrate over hours, days, months, and now years. Effectively using AI tools in software development is one of the greatest arts of our time. If it's really that easy, do it yourself. Good luck.

Read more on the Kopka blog about how development pricing works, and what isn't mentioned with overly cheap promises — web development prices and artificial intelligence