Paul Ford: The A.I. Disruption We’ve Been Waiting for Has Arrived

February 23, 2026

Paul Ford is a writer that I really like. I recently found his article, The A.I. Disruption We’ve Been Waiting for Has Arrived, to be an interesting read.

And as always, just a ton of lines that I want to quote in full. But I’m avoiding doing so, because I’d essentially be copy/pasting the whole thing in here. But I can’t help myself. Here’s one:

There are many arguments against vibe coding through A.I. It is an ecological disaster, with data centers consuming billions of gallons of water for cooling each year; it can generate bad, insecure code; it creates cookie-cutter apps instead of real, thoughtful solutions; the real value is in people, not software. All of these are true and valid. But I’ve been around too long. The web wasn’t “real” software until it was. Blogging wasn’t publishing. Big, serious companies weren’t going to migrate to the cloud, and then one day they did.

I like how Ford is both a coder and a translator. He’s able to convey the technical things we do for a living (and for fun), and express them to regular people who may end up equating a keyboard with email.

When I think about AI nowadays, both where we are and where we might go… I’m reminded a lot of Clark Shirky and his take on higher education. What we’re doing with AI may not be the same as humans, but will it be good enough?

Article link: (Direct | Ungated)

[via MetaFilter]

Related:
The Database of the Dead
Empathy, Theory of Mind, and the Loneliness of Umwelt
How to Be Polite
Clay Shirky: On Napster, Udacity and the Role of MOOCs in Higher Education

This Post Has 1 Comment

  1. I was going to share a link to Ford’s personal site, where he reflects a bit on the piece he wrote (and the audience that will consume it).

    I’m sad to discover that he, also, saw the MetaFilter post… and ultimately decided to close out his account.

    avoision (February 24, 2026 at 6:32 pm) Reply


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