Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

So let's be clear about what was defined as 'failure' here: "I got the product launched. It worked (but) I needed to make a small change and realized I wasn't confident I could do it. My own product, built under my direction, and I'd lost confidence in my ability to modify it... Not immediate failure - that's the trap. Initial metrics look great. You ship faster. You feel productive. Then three months later, you realize nobody actually understands what you've built." But is this failure, really? Perhaps it is, by the traditional standards of software design. But why not just as the AI to make the change? As usual, what counts as 'failure' depends on what you're trying to do. Create an application that works? AI is often successful. Become an expert software developer? Then having someone (or something) is a non-starter. But we knew that.

Today: Total: [Direct link] [Share]


Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2025
Last Updated: Dec 02, 2025 4:10 p.m.

Canadian Flag Creative Commons License.