Why Models Over-Edit Your Code, Meta Keystroke Surveillance, Interviewing Engineers in the AI Age

Is GPT-5.5 finally a 4.7-tier model? Did DeepSeek V4 just close the gap with Anthropic? And what does it mean that a senior ML engineer says he can't out-code Claude anymore? Co-hosts Shimin Zhang, Dan Lasky, and Rahul Yadav are joined by special guest Nathan Lubchenco — ML engineer and Substack author of *The future was yesterday* (https://nathanlubchenco.substack.com/) — on ADI Pod #23 (April 28, 2026).This episode covers OpenAI's GPT-5.5 release, DeepSeek V4 (1.6T base / 49B active params with 1M context), Meta's new Model Capability Initiative tracking US employee keystrokes and mouse movements, a Levenshtein-distance study on coding-model over-editing, the 2026 Stanford AI Index report, and a deep-dive interview on how to hire software engineers when the agents are already better at coding than the candidates.Key takeaways— Models are now consistently better at coding than even senior ML engineers, by their own admission. Late-2026 may be when they cross the median software engineer.— Coding-model over-editing is measurable (Levenshtein distance on boolean-flip tasks) and instruction-followable — explicit "minimum-edit" prompts close most of the gap.— The US is unusually a slow adopter of a major technological wave. Workplace AI usage is highest in emerging economies, not the developed world.— "The task is not the job" — humans remain indispensable on the bundling dimensions: catching what customers don't say, and avoiding interactions that end up on social media.— Software engineering interviews should include the candidate's personal harness, with company-provided API keys for equity. LeetCode optimizes for the wrong signal in 2026.— DeepSeek V4 closing the gap with Mythos in 3–6 months is what makes the bubble too geopolitically important to fail.Chapters(00:00) - Cold Open & Welcome (01:31) - News Threadmill: GPT-5.5, DeepSeek V4, Meta Watches Every Keystroke (12:28) - Post-Processing: Coding Models Are Doing Too Much (18:59) - Post-Processing: The Task Is Not the Job (Luis Garicano) (32:20) - Post-Processing: The 2026 Stanford AI Index Report (38:11) - Deep Dive: Interviewing Engineers in the AI Age (with Nathan Lubchenco) (45:05) - Deep Dive: Reforming Software Hiring — Take-Homes, Personal Harness, Equity (50:15) - Deep Dive: When Models Cross the Median Engineer (Late-2026 Prediction) (59:29) - Deep Dive: Why Code Review Is the Current Bottleneck (01:00:21) - Deep Dive: Should PRs Show the Prompt History? (01:02:27) - Dan's Rant: Anthropic Tested Removing Claude Code from the Pro Plan (01:05:44) - Rahul's Rampage: The Infinity Machine — Demis Hassabis & Corporate Gravity (01:14:32) - Two Minutes to Midnight: Bubble Clock Moves Back to 4:00 (01:26:30) - Outro Resources mentioned**Models & news**• OpenAI — Introducing GPT-5.5: https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5-5/• Engadget — DeepSeek promises its new AI model has world-class reasoning: https://www.engadget.com/ai/deepseek-promises-its-new-ai-model-has-world-class-reasoning-115733512.html• Reuters — Meta to start capturing employee mouse movements, keystrokes for AI training data: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/meta-start-capturing-employee-mouse-movements-keystrokes-ai-training-data-2026-04-21/**Post-processing articles**• "Coding Models Are Doing Too Much" — Levenshtein-distance over-editing study (nrehiew): https://nrehiew.github.io/blog/minimal_editing/• Luis Garicano (Silicon Continent) — Why Desk Jobs Survive ("The task is not the job"): https://www.siliconcontinent.com/p/why-desk-jobs-survive-and-amodei• 2026 AI Index Report — Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI: https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report**Deep dive**• Nathan Lubchenco — Interviewing Software Engineers in the Age of AI: https://nathanlubchenco.substack.com/p/interviewing-software-engineers-in• Nathan Lubchenco — *The future was yesterday* Substack home: https://nathanlubchenco.substack.com/**Dan's rant**• Ars Technica — Anthropic tested removing Claude Code from the Pro plan: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/anthropic-tested-removing-claude-code-from-the-pro-plan/**Rahul's rampage**• Sebastian Mallaby — *The Infinity Machine* (book on Demis Hassabis and DeepMind)• Philipp Dubach — Do Not Disturb My Circles (Archimedes essay): https://philippdubach.com/posts/do-not-disturb-my-circles/**Bubble watch**• TechCrunch — Two college kids raise $5.1M pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage: https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/24/two-college-kids-raise-a-5-1-million-pre-seed-to-build-an-ai-social-network-in-imessage/• Toby Ord — Hourly Costs for AI Agents: https://www.tobyord.com/writing/hourly-costs-for-ai-agents• CNBC — OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets, shares of Oracle and chip stocks falling: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/28/openai-reportedly-missed-revenue-targets-shares-of-oracle-and-these-chip-stocks-are-falling.htmlAbout ADI Pod ADI Pod (Artificial Developer Intelligence) is a weekly podcast about AI and software development for working developers. Co-hosts Shimin Zhang, Dan Lasky, and Rahul Yadav go through hundreds of links and dozens of newsletters every week so you don't have to.This week's special guest: **Nathan Lubchenco** — ML engineer and author of *The future was yesterday* on Substack, where he writes about AI and software engineering.• Website: https://www.adipod.ai• Email: [email protected]