[Me & X] Reasoning vs output
X : All your talk about reasoning make you seem very anti the AI era.
Me : Quite the opposite. Can I guess you're talking about vibe coding?
X : Yes
Me : Ok. I'm very pro vibe coding or what I called conversational programming almost a decade ago. But even in that world, reasoning about the system is important.
X : How many executives are looking at code level detail at any sizable organization?
Me : You miss the point. The executive who doesn't look at code level detail is relying on a chain of people who do. The CTO can read code. The engineering managers came up through the ranks writing it. The senior developers review the juniors. Somewhere in that hierarchy, even when this extends to outside vendors, that comprehension exists. In this light, the executive is outsourcing attention, comprehension still remains in the chain. Someone can still reason about what is happening.
X : Legacy?
Me : Good catch. I love legacy problems especially systems built in dead languages which the organisation has lost any comprehension of. They can be solved through tools but they are hard problems.
X : Why not point the AI at it?
Me : I'm sure that looks good in powerpoint presentations. A workable approach is to get the AI to build the tools that you'll need to solve the problem (as and when they are needed) and even for the AI to use those same tools to help guide the AI through the problem. That's one of the things I'm writing about with Tudor Girba. The tools enable people to keep reasoning about what is happening and developing those essential cognitive skills.
X : Why not just get an agentic swarm to do this?
Me : You could but you'll end up with no comprehension of the system.
X : So what? I don't need comprehension, I need results!
Me : When an entire culture decides that producing outputs matters more than understanding mechanisms, it works fine right up until the environment shifts and nobody remembers how to reason from first principles.
X : Who cares, I want to be rich!
Me : That boat has sailed. You think corporations are going to pay you vast sums to sit at home in your underwear pressing a button once a day whilst your swarm builds things? Everyone will soon have swarms. That's destined to be a minimum wage job. If you want to earn real money, I'd focus on strengthening your reasoning.
X : I will be rich.
Me : From button pressing without reasoning? Hmmm, I'll "vibe code" your future.
Originally published on LinkedIn.