@sperbsen@discuss.systems

Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Jul 15, 2026

Replying to @sperbsen@discuss.systems

As to Fowler's *so useful*, lots of things are *useful*, and @tante@tldr.nettime.org has dealt with that aspect of AI. Let me connect this with Majors's posting: If we follow her argument that we all need to "engage with AI", we all should "engage" with lots of useful things. Yet, as a society we've chosen to "engage" with many things only in highly controlled environments, or not at all. Think of nuclear power and life sciences. https://tante.cc/2026/07/15/useful-is-not-sufficient/

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Jul 15, 2026

Replying to @sperbsen@discuss.systems

Majors's article is such a hot mess of non sequiturs that it's difficult to even know where to begin. I'll just highlight one major point. As an example for "AI is just technology", she cites, of all things, *Facebook for Myanmar*: That we "discover the risks before we know how to govern them". (Really! Look it up!) After reading this a dozen times, the only conclusion I can draw from this, is that Majors actually believes that Facebook is "just technology", that somehow its fueling a genocide was a necessary step (towards what?) and that we (or somebody) has learned how to regulate Facebook this will not happen again. Like. Seriously? https://systemicjustice.org/article/facebook-and-genocide-how-facebook-contributed-to-genocide-in-myanmar-and-why-it-will-not-be-held-accountable/

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Jul 15, 2026

Replying to @sperbsen@discuss.systems

For reference, here are these two articles: https://charity.wtf/p/make-ai-boring-again https://martinfowler.com/fragments/2026-07-06.html

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Jul 15, 2026

I know I’m late to the party to @mipsytipsy@hachyderm.io’s post “Is it ethical to use AI?”, where she argues that “AI is just technology”. It’s been festering inside me, and Martin Fowler’s mention of the article that calls AI “a technology that is so powerful and so useful”, and therefore “there’s no ethical gain from renouncing the use of AI”. (Especially as both have provided thoughtful and nuanced writing on many topics over the years.) For context, I’ve written on @activegroupgmbh@discuss.systems’s policy toward agentic development: https://funktionale-programmierung.de/en/2026/06/23/agai.html 🧵

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Jul 12, 2026

Recordings of many of the talks of FLOPS 2026 are now available!
https://functional-logic.org/events/flops/2026/schedule/

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Jul 08, 2026

Ich werde morgen auf dem Java Forum ausnahmsweise mal Java programmieren und zeigen, wie "Data-Oriented Programming" funktioniert und warum das geil ist.
https://www.java-forum-stuttgart.de/vortraege/data-oriented-programming/

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · May 13, 2026

Replying to @Taneb@hacksrus.xyz

@Taneb@hacksrus.xyz Glad to hear it!

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · May 10, 2026

Replying to @dotstdy@mastodon.social

@dotstdy@mastodon.social @wingo@mastodon.social More like Lisp-syntax appreciation day.

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · May 08, 2026

Soviel geballte Architekturkompetenz kommt selten zusammen. Wer Einblicke bekommen möchte, wie Softwarearchitektur entsteht und wie der Advanced Level des @isaqb@mastodon.social entsteht, der ist auf dem Forum genau richtig.
(Insbesondere, wer etwas über Funktionale Softwarearchitektur oder Domänenspezifische Sprachen erfahren möchte, da erzähle ich was.)
Und ansprechen kann man uns auch!
https://www.software-architecture-forum.de/

mastodon.social

iSAQB (@isaqb@mastodon.social) - Mastodon

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Apr 29, 2026

Replying to @sperbsen@discuss.systems

So I don't think the answer to the ongoing crisis in software development is to make the code disposable and unimportant. Let's not deal with Deadly code through automating its creation. Instead, let's intensify our strife to make it meaningful to us humans - to treat it with care.

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Apr 29, 2026

Replying to @sperbsen@discuss.systems

The main point I want to make is that code is not just that one, disposable thing, but can be Deadly, Holy, Rough, and Immediate - in arbitrary combinations, and sometimes all at once. We should not see code as a mere artifact in the production of functionality, but as a social medium through which can can collaborate, communicate, form understanding, and enjoy each other and what we've created.

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Apr 29, 2026

Replying to @sperbsen@discuss.systems

Thinking of code in this way sometimes makes me think of Peter Brook's great, great book on the theatre, "The Empty Space". (I apologize for the analogy if it makes no sene to you - I do theatre sometimes, so it's on my mind.) Brook distinguishes between the Deadly, the Holy, the Rough, and the Immediate Theatre. In the Deadly theatre, the shape is right - everything is objectively done by coping previous, established productions, but it is lifeless and uninspired. The Holy theatre makes "the invisible visible", and imparts deeper spiritual truths to the audience. It's immediately recognizable if you've been so lucky as to be in its presence. The Rough theatre is popular theatre, less focussed on style but to make "joy and laughter" as it organically transforms characters and plot into stagecraft. The Immediate theatre is about the live, direct relationship between the actors and the audience, leaving room for improvisation and variation. I'll leave you to apply these concepts to code you've seen.

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Apr 29, 2026

Replying to @sperbsen@discuss.systems

In particular, writing code with care is a process that helps the writer understand something: About the domain, an ingenious algorithmic idea, and, most importantly, about the humans that inhabit it, and - sometimes - even something fundamental about ourselves, our understanding of the world and the folks around us, and about our own minds. When that happens, it can bring great joy, and the spark inherent in such code can jump over to the reader: Good code can convey this understanding and joy, the idea as it formed in the writer's head, the click when everything fit together just so. (I still remember Andy Hertzfeld's "famous print routine" on the Apple II from the early 80s, and still feel a connection to the man even though I never met him.) Code written collaboratively can bring all of these joys and insights to the next level.

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Apr 29, 2026

A lot of the recent hype around agentic coding comes with a statement of the effect that code no longer matters, as it can be produced factory-style by LLMs. I saw this most recently as part of the "o16g Manifesto", which sees code solely as a vehicle to deliver functionality. While there's a grain of truth in that - much of the code of this world is in some way disposable - it misses the fundamental social aspects of what code can be. 🧵

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Apr 28, 2026

RE: @ewolff@mastodon.social

@lars@mastodon.hupel.info und ich kuratieren zusammen den FM-Lehrplan des @isaqb@mastodon.social - sehr sehenswerte Einordnung!

mastodon.social

Eberhard Wolff: "Wozu formale Methoden? mit Lars Hupel @lars@hupel…" - Mastodon

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Apr 17, 2026

Replying to @plexus@toot.cat

@plexus BOB

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Mar 31, 2026

Replying to @dpk@chaos.social

@dpk As a matter of fact, I do. Happy to talk.

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Mike Sperber @sperbsen@discuss.systems · Feb 02, 2026

RE: @activegroupgmbh@discuss.systems

Looking forward to yet another OOP talk. I'll talk about something the software development/architecture community seems to have lost, namely leveraging powerful data/object models to design rich applications that make our lives better. See you next Thursday!

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Mike Sperber

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iSAQB (@isaqb@mastodon.social) - Mastodon

Eberhard Wolff: "Wozu formale Methoden? mit Lars Hupel @lars@hupel…" - Mastodon

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