Anthropic engineer says AI coding tools make engineers feel more isolated

Coding is already a lonely job, and AI agents might be making it worse. Fiona Fung, an engineering lead at Anthropic, says the team has noticed that the more engineers rely on AI agents, the less they talk to each other. She admits that working with your own agent for long periods can feel isolating.

To fix this, Anthropic is bringing back face-to-face interactions. They organize coding lunches, hackathons, and pair programming sessions where engineers work together and learn from each other's AI workflows. Fung says everyone uses Claude Cowork differently, and there's a lot to learn from pairing up.

Claude Code has become one of the most popular AI coding tools among startups. A survey of over 20 startup founders and venture capitalists found that some prefer using Claude Code for complex engineering tasks. Meanwhile, "vibe coding"—building software through natural language instructions—is gaining traction, making solo founders more common.

But going it alone can be just as lonely. Fung says Anthropic is still working to create more opportunities for engineers to work side by side, even if they use AI differently. She notes that watching how others work always teaches her something new.