Software engineering was always engineering. We just got…

2026-10-20 · published

Rigorous specifications, testing and verification were expensive. For much commercial software, shipping and fixing failures later was often cheaper.
AI changes the need: code can be produced faster than humans can inspect it, and software can spread into more places. Independent checks become more important.
AI changes the cost too: it can help draft specifications, generate tests, explore failure cases and work within stronger compiler-enforced constraints.
AI-generated tests are not automatically independent proof. Specifications and checks still need scrutiny. High-assurance fields have long taken this seriously.
The techniques were already available. Their economics are changing. Automating programming may finally make rigorous software engineering economical.