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Software Architecture Insights · Tuesday · 12 min

Is AI Code Automation Contributing to Code Complexity?

In March 2024, Lee wrote about a GitClear report that had analyzed 153 million lines of changed code, and said the early numbers on AI-assisted code were worrying. GitClear kept counting. The newest report covers 623 million changes through the first half of 2026. So this episode is a check on his own words: what he got right, what he got wrong, and the thing he missed completely. The metric he led with in 2024 turned out to be the least alarming one in the report. The one he underplayed got worse than he expected. In this episode: The churn number that didn't double, and what projections do Duplication up 81%, copy/paste from 9% to 16%, cross-file calls down 35% Refactoring collapsed: 21% of changed lines in 2022, under 4% now Why "does AI write good code?" is the wrong question The price change underneath it all: writing got nearly free, understanding didn't Two fair objections, and what he'd write today instead of "use it in moderation" Links: Read the original 2024 article GitClear: Coding on Copilot, the 2024 report GitClear: The Maintainability Gap, the new report Get the SAI newsletter Atchison Academy courses

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In March 2024, Lee wrote about a GitClear report that had analyzed 153 million lines of changed code, and said the early numbers on AI-assisted code were worrying.

GitClear kept counting. The newest report covers 623 million changes through the first half of 2026.

So this episode is a check on his own words: what he got right, what he got wrong, and the thing he missed completely. The metric he led with in 2024 turned out to be the least alarming one in the report. The one he underplayed got worse than he expected.

In this episode:

  • The churn number that didn't double, and what projections do
  • Duplication up 81%, copy/paste from 9% to 16%, cross-file calls down 35%
  • Refactoring collapsed: 21% of changed lines in 2022, under 4% now
  • Why "does AI write good code?" is the wrong question
  • The price change underneath it all: writing got nearly free, understanding didn't
  • Two fair objections, and what he'd write today instead of "use it in moderation"

Links:


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