Lenny's Reads Why your AI product needs a different development lifecycle
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Aug 19, 2025 Discover the transformative CC/CD framework for AI product development. Learn about the unique challenges of AI's non-deterministic nature and the crucial balance between agency and control. Explore a three-version approach to enhance coding assistants, emphasizing data collection and user feedback. Uncover essential steps to avoid over-engineering and foster user trust, all while navigating the complexities of AI deployment. This insightful discussion offers practical guidelines for creating stable and trustworthy AI systems.
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AI Breaks Traditional Predictability
- AI products are fundamentally non-deterministic and require a different development mindset.
- Treat likely behavior, not guaranteed behavior, as your design target.
Agency vs Control Trade-Off
- Every AI system trades off agency for human control, and more autonomy means less human oversight.
- Grant agency gradually after the system proves reliability to avoid losing visibility and trust.
Adopt The CC/CD Lifecycle
- Use the Continuous Calibration/Continuous Development (CC/CD) loop to develop and tune AI systems iteratively.
- Deploy to observe real behavior, then iterate to earn more agency over time.