{"slug": "ai-coding-creates-two-kinds-of-debt-youre-only-measuring-one", "title": "AI coding creates two kinds of debt. You’re only measuring one", "summary": "Dr. Margaret-Anne Storey of the University of Victoria introduced the term 'cognitive debt' in October 2025 to describe the hidden cost of AI-generated code that engineers cannot understand. Unlike traditional technical debt, cognitive debt accumulates when teams lose track of system logic and rationale, with satisfaction scores masking the problem.", "body_md": "June 18, 2026\n\nEstimated reading time: 9 minutes\n\n**Key takeaways:**\n\n**Cognitive debt** is the**technical debt** nobody is measuring. When AI generates code faster than engineers can understand it, teams lose track of what their system does and why.- The\n**tool** isn’t the problem – the**relationship with it****is**: two interns used AI at the same frequency. The difference? Whether they engaged with what it produced. **Your satisfaction scores are hiding the problem!** The most reliable signal isn’t how engineers feel, it’s whether their skills are actually developing.\n\nDr. Margaret-Anne Storey, professor of computer science at the University of Victoria, first used the term ‘cognitive debt’ in October 2025 while teaching an entrepreneurship startup course.\n\n## Join LeadDev.com for free to access this content\n\nJune 18, 2026", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-coding-creates-two-kinds-of-debt-youre-only-measuring-one", "canonical_source": "https://leaddev.com/ai/ai-coding-creates-two-kinds-of-debt-youre-only-measuring-one?utm_source=leaddev&utm_medium=RSS", "published_at": "2026-06-18 07:02:17+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-01 12:05:42.983625+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-tools", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["Dr. Margaret-Anne Storey", "University of Victoria", "LeadDev.com"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-coding-creates-two-kinds-of-debt-youre-only-measuring-one", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-coding-creates-two-kinds-of-debt-youre-only-measuring-one.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-coding-creates-two-kinds-of-debt-youre-only-measuring-one.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-coding-creates-two-kinds-of-debt-youre-only-measuring-one.jsonld"}}