Handmade Cities does not have a blanket ban on AI usage, but we do have sweeping prohibitions on:

  1. AI hype profiteering. You know when you see it. (Statements like “Traditional coding is dead. Don’t be a tradcoder.”) Respectfully close this tab and burn your token subsidies elsewhere.

  2. Doom trolling. Coined by Cal Newport doom trolling captures the fabricated hysteria around the future of our profession (“Software engineers will be gone in two years.”) Don’t do that.

HMC is a safe fortress for anyone wanting better software. People who believe in quality and craftsmanship no matter the cost or ridicule. Some of us will judiciously apply AI technology, most often through local open-weight models. Others prefer not to use it in any way, shape, or form. Both classes of users are welcome.