Never Trust a Monkey: The Chasm, the Craft, and the Chain of AI-Assisted Code

Abstract

We’re in the middle of another leap in abstraction. Like compilers, cloud, and containers before it, AI coding agents arrived with hype, fear, and broken assumptions. We gave the monkeys GPUs. Sometimes they output Shakespeare. Other times, they confidently ship code that compiles, passes tests, and still does the wrong thing. The problem is the gap between what we mean and what actually runs. This talk delivers a practical framework for working with AI agents, built on three ideas: the Chasm between human intent and the code that actually runs, the Context that replaces guessing with grounding (APIs, conventions, constraints, domain rules), and the Chain that keeps intent alive through a structured flow from prompt to spec to test to code, where every step produces a verifiable artifact validated externally. Through interactive demonstrations and honest war stories, we’ll trace how intent gets lost and build the guardrails that prevent it. You’ll leave with a working model for AI-assisted development where humans own the meaning and machines do the typing. Trust your context. Trust your guardrails. Never trust a monkey.