AI Pair Programming

A workflow where a human developer and an AI assistant write code together — the AI suggesting, drafting, refactoring, the human steering and validating.

AI pair programming adapts the classic "pair programming" practice: instead of two humans at one keyboard, a human + an AI assistant work side-by-side.

How it differs from autocomplete

Pair programming with AI is conversational. The human asks "implement X with these constraints", the AI drafts, the human reviews and steers. The AI is a collaborator, not a code-completion engine.

How it differs from agentic coding

Pair programming is interactive — every step is reviewed. Agentic coding is more autonomous — the agent runs longer tasks unsupervised. Most modern AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor) support both modes.

Last updated May 7, 2026