Garry's Mod Creator Compares AI Coding Dependency to Porn Addiction, Sparks Debate on Developer Deskilling

Garry Newman argues that programmers who over-rely on AI lose the ability to solve problems independently — and the metaphor he chose ensured the internet noticed.

Garry Newman, creator of the enduringly popular sandbox game Garry's Mod, made a characteristically blunt observation about AI-assisted programming that went viral via PC Gamer: developers who lean too heavily on AI coding tools risk cognitive atrophy, losing the mental muscle for independent problem-solving. His chosen analogy — comparing it to pornography's effect on imagination — guaranteed attention, but the underlying point resonates with a growing cohort of experienced developers who've watched junior engineers struggle to debug code they didn't write.

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