Hi Guys, I'm going to make a heretical statement. It's this: you don't need AI to generate code and you shouldn't use AI to generate code.Instead I believe AI should be used to elicit the user requirements and the AI can then be used to generate a specification from which code can be mapped to produce code deterministically. We were doing this in a simplified form in the 1980s. If you think this is relevant as an alternative to vibe coding and agentic engineering. Let me know I can show you how all of this works and why it is important in 2026 and beyond. Yes, I am actually that old, but I have a view on the fundamental basics of software engineering. I feel like a survivor of a lost civilisation that has been washed away and forgotten. My approach brings together formal methods and AI in a way that was impossible back in the day. But... now that we have the compute and proper AI, not just IKBS, we can focus on generating a specification and not the code. A specification that can persist across the entire SDLC. All a bit like all the other branches of engineering that have drawings, specifications and circuit diagrams and things. Cheers me dears, Loz
Part of me really wants to agree, part of me just thinks it's too late to go back to the old ways and some slop will always exist. Do you have any good ways to evaluate AI Slop? Made a fun project (could call it a campaign) with a similar PoV, I'm spiritually old, check it out - dontshipslop.com, and let me know if you have any ideas on how to build a slop detector that evaluates things from a deterministic spec to code program synthesis approach...
4 comments