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Ask HN: Do we need a language designed specifically for AI code generation?

Jun 07, 2025 - news.ycombinator.com
The article explores the idea of designing a new programming language optimized for AI-generated code that is reviewed by humans. The focus would be on achieving absolute clarity and predictability in the code, potentially at the expense of conveniences like syntactic sugar. This could involve having only one explicit way to write common constructs, such as loops, and enforcing extreme explicitness in function definitions to eliminate ambiguity.

The language would likely prioritize safety features, such as mandatory visibility and explicit ownership annotations, to provide clear guarantees to human reviewers. The article questions whether such a language would be practical for human use in everyday programming or if it would primarily serve as a target for AI-generated code. It considers the trade-offs necessary to achieve higher confidence in AI-generated code, suggesting that some conveniences might be sacrificed for the sake of clarity and reliability.

Key takeaways:

  • Designing a programming language for AI-generated code would prioritize unambiguous clarity over convenience.
  • Reducing syntactic sugar and enforcing explicit syntax could make AI output more predictable and easier to review.
  • Safety features like mandatory visibility and explicit ownership annotations could be central to the language, providing instant guarantees for reviewers.
  • Such a language might not be practical for human use in day-to-day work and could primarily serve as a compilation target for AI prompts.
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