GoKawiilEngineer's 'Brain Sandwich' method proposes bracketing AI coding with human review
A blog post recounts a framework shared by an engineer named Emily for working with AI coding tools, dubbed the 'Brain Sandwich': think through the problem yourself first, delegate implementation to AI, then personally review and refine the output before sending it for review. The approach is offered as a counter to engineers fully outsourcing tasks to AI, a practice some reportedly call a 'Meat Proxy'.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The framework reflects a broader concern among engineers that heavy AI delegation could erode coding skills and lead to solving the wrong problems if human judgment isn't applied before and after AI involvement. It suggests informal practices like this could become common ways teams try to balance productivity gains from AI with maintaining code quality and engineer competency.
- The 'Brain Sandwich' framework: human thinking, then AI delegation, then human review.
- It aims to prevent engineers from fully outsourcing work to AI without understanding it.
- The rule of thumb given is that if you can't explain a change, it isn't ready for review.
Source: terriblesoftware.org, 2026-10-18
Published there as: “The Brain Sandwich”
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