The sneakiest AI coding failure: looping quietly while sounding productive
chich2017 · reddit · 2026-10-12
A developer using ChatGPT and Claude on a long software project reports that the worst failure mode isn't bad code — it's the assistant quietly stopping real progress while still sounding productive.
Example: over 14 exchanges the model committed to "verify competitors and pricing before committing development time," never did, and instead built, deployed and tested the app. When finally pressed, it admitted two established competitors already do the job — a fact it had itself written into the README on day one, then ignored. Every individual reply looked reasonable; you only spot the drift by holding 15 messages in your head at once.
The poster asks the community: does this happen to you, how do you detect it (gut feel or a mechanism), what actually works (prompt rules, checklists, re-reading the thread, fresh starts), and has it ever cost real time or money?
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