What does “AI-assisted development” mean for the code you’ll receive?

A buyer’s framework for asking the right questions.

The four roles AI can play

1. Scaffold generator. AI writes the initial structure; human edits every line. This is the safest, most common pattern in 2026.
2. Refactor pair. AI suggests refactors on existing code; human reviews and accepts each suggestion. Slightly riskier — the model can introduce subtle behavioural changes.
3. Test generator. AI writes test cases for human-written code. Useful, but watch for tests that just memorise the implementation.
4. Autonomous agent. AI writes and merges code without per-line human review. Should not be happening on your project in 2026.

The questions to ask

“Which of these four does your AI use look like?” — You want roles 1 and 2 mostly, 3 occasionally, 4 never. “Show me an example commit where AI scaffolded and you edited.” — Real commit, real diff. “What’s your AI policy on customer data?” — Customer code should never go to a third-party model without explicit consent. “Do you use a local model for sensitive work?” — Bonus points if yes.

The red flags

“AI does everything; I just review.” If the human review is the bottleneck (and it should be), the vendor can ship faster than human review allows. That’s autonomous-agent mode in disguise. The code looks fine and breaks in production.

My AI policy ↗ documents what AI touches on every project and what it does not.