This seems to work really well in cases where you're just laying down boilerplate. A few cherry-picked comments seem to suggest that React components are an ideal use case - which makes sense, that's a lot of munging and syntax to just render some strings.

However, I find the process of writing these sorts of functions cathartic and part of the process to get into zen-mode for coding. I think I'd feel less joy in programming if all of this was just done by glorified commenting and then code-review of the robot.

I like to think of coding in terms of athletic training, which usually is comprised of difficult tasks that are interspersed with lighter ones that keep you moving (but are giving you a bit of a break). Training for soccer teams often involved lots of sprinting and aerobic exercise - and in between those activities we would do some stretching or jogging to keep our body moving. These sorts of small functions (write a function to fetch a resource, parse an input payload, etc.) are when my brain is still moving but getting ready for the next difficult task.