I don't let AI decide how my projects are structured. I define it, and the AI follows. Well, most of the time.
Sometimes it steps outside the frame: ignoring a principle, working around a design pattern, adding a layer nobody asked for. It's quickly fixed. But only because I know exactly what I expected.
And that, to me, is where real control lies.
Architecture is decided before the first prompt
Before I open an assistant, I already know how the project is organized: where the business logic lives, how the layers communicate, which patterns I use and why.
AI doesn't have that big picture. It answers what you show it: a file, a function, a question. If you don't give it the frame, it invents one. And that improvised frame changes from one answer to the next.
Architecture can't be delegated. It has to be passed on.
AI follows… until it improvises
Even with clear instructions, AI sometimes drifts. It puts business logic in a controller instead of a service. It creates a useless abstraction. It adds a dependency for something three lines would have covered.
Taken one by one, each of these deviations looks harmless. The code works. But as they pile up, they turn a coherent project into a patchwork that is hard to maintain.
You can only fix quickly what you have clearly defined
Spotting a deviation requires a reference. If I know a given process must go through a service, I see immediately when the AI strays from it. Without that marker, the same code would look perfectly acceptable.
That's why the rules must exist before generation: written conventions, a deliberate folder structure, named principles. The more explicit the frame, the faster the correction.
How fast you correct depends on how clear your frame is.
You are still the architect
AI speeds up writing code. It doesn't carry responsibility for its coherence.
Reviewing, turning down a suggestion, simplifying what got overcomplicated, documenting decisions so they outlive the project: that's the work that keeps a codebase healthy over time.
AI is an excellent builder. But the blueprint of the house stays in our hands.
So, are you the one guiding the AI, or is it slowly drawing your architecture for you?
