AI Coding Tools in 2026: The Reality Behind the Hype
AI Coding Tools in 2026: The Reality Behind the Hype TL;DR AI coding assistants have crossed a critical threshold in late 2024-2025, with developers reporting 80% AI-assisted workflows—but the landscape is messier than the hype suggests. GPT-5.3 Codex outperforms Claude Opus 4.6 on Ruby on Rails at 1/7th the cost, yet enterprise AI engineering roles remain frustrating due to unrealistic leadership expectations. Local deployment options are democratizing access, but VRAM constraints and context window limitations reveal significant gaps between marketing promises and practical capabilities. The bubble hasn’t popped, but mainstream recognition of AI’s limitations is growing. ...