Escaping the Quicksand: A Call to Arms
Quick summary
arXiv:2608.19674v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Computing has been an astonishing success - but the accumulated technical debt exposes us all to huge costs in business and societal risk. For 75 years, we've built systems to prose specifications with test-and-debug development. That works well enough for industry to thrive, but it's an expensive and ineffective feedback loop, and leaves everyone relying on shaky foundations. Now, AI-enabled engineering is amplifying the success by reducing coding costs, but also amplifies the risks, by rapidly increasing technical debt, and by automating dete
Key takeaways
- arXiv:2608.19674v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Computing has been an astonishing success - but the accumulated technical debt exposes us all to huge costs in business and societal risk.
- For 75 years, we've built systems to prose specifications with test-and-debug development.
- That works well enough for industry to thrive, but it's an expensive and ineffective feedback loop, and leaves everyone relying on shaky foundations.
Why it matters
The importance of “Escaping the Quicksand: A Call to Arms” will be measured by what changes in practice. User behavior, access conditions, verifiable performance and responsible-use outcomes are the signals worth following.
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