Computer Says No

In his column for the FD, Roland van der Vorst writes:

According to American sociologist Richard Sennett, craftspeople have a 'material consciousness' - a relationship with the material they use. They are in dialogue with it, which can be physical (wood, stone) or abstract (software, research, care). It is a form of knowing that arises through touching, trying, correcting, feeling resistance, and through 'hands that think.'

The machine can increase the distance to our material. A software builder who lets the computer do the coding loses their feel for the software code.

This is a great insight. For software engineers coding is the way to fully grasp the business context. By programming, they learn how the system fits together, where the limits are, and what is possible. From there they can discover new possibilities, but also assess whether new ideas are feasible.

If AI takes over the coding, that layer of knowledge disappears. Not just for the user, but for the software engineers themselves. The product becomes a black box. And yes, perhaps new craftsmanship emerges in directing the AI agent, but that doesn't build the same deep knowledge of what you're actually making.

"Computer says no" then becomes the endpoint more and more often, and there will be no human left who can explain why.