It starts innocently. You ask your AI assistant to scaffold a module, maybe add a new API route. The code appears in seconds, looks neat, and even runs. You feel unstoppable.
Then a few days later, you’re knee-deep in functions you didn’t write, variables that seem to name themselves, and imports from packages you never meant to use. One small change breaks three files. You scroll through the diff wondering who wrote this mess. Spoiler: it was you — and your AI.
I use Augment Code mostly, but honestly, this happens with every tool. The moment you hand over the steering wheel, AI does what it does best — over-generate. It tries to impress you with completeness, not clarity.
That’s when I flipped the workflow.
Instead of saying, “write me this feature,” I started saying, “here’s the test — make it pass.”
Suddenly, everything changed. The AI stopped building castles and started laying bricks.
When you write the tests first, you define the boundaries. You decide what “done” means. The AI only fills in the minimum needed to make the tests go green. It doesn’t have permission to invent architecture. You stay in control.
This is just test-driven development (TDD), but with a twist: the AI is your junior developer. You write intent; it writes implementation.
And the result? Not just leaner code — well-tested code.
Every piece the AI touches has a corresponding test. You don’t end up with half-baked helpers or random abstractions. You end up with code that behaves exactly as you specified — and a test suite that proves it.
Funny how things come around. TDD started as a discipline for human developers decades ago — a way to enforce thoughtfulness and quality. Who knew it would become the perfect antidote to AI code chaos in 2025?
Sometimes I even take it a step further and ask the AI to suggest the tests before I refine them. It’s a nice warm-up — like brainstorming edge cases before getting serious. You could call that the zeroth step. Maybe I’ll write about that next.
For now, try this:
The next time you reach for your coding assistant, don’t ask it to build something.
Write a failing test. Then tell the AI, “Make this pass.”
You’ll get cleaner code, stronger tests, and maybe — for the first time — a sense that you’re the one driving again.