Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 5hSomeone just said to me: "AI is like Jesus. I like him, just not his followers." Serious contendor for quote of the decade 030
Reposted by Rob BowleySimon Willison @simonwillison.net · 28/09/2026I've published detailed notes and an annotated transcript to accompany the video of the keynote I gave at @wearedevelopers.bsky.social World Congress North America in San Jose on Friday - here's my rundown of everything that's happened with LLMs in 2026 so far simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/27/...simonwillison.net2026 in LLMs (so far)On Friday I gave the closing keynote at the WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America in San Jose. I tied together the key trends from the past year into a chronological … 310421
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 25/09/2026A good reminder to (re)read No Silver Bullet. Tools shrink accidental complexity; essential complexity remains. 194
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 24/09/2026If your primary objective with AI is anything but learning faster, you're spending a lot of time optimising the wrong thing. Progress moves at the speed of its slowest step. For knowledge work, that step is understanding. It always has been. 083
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 22/09/2026Learning how to use Ableton (music creation software). It is like being in the cockpit of a space shuttle 130
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 19/09/2026There are always ways to jailbreak the safegaurds in the LLMs and cost yes I called that out in my article, but it will get cheaper e.g. Deepseak and also OS models getting better over time 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 19/09/2026which is also evidenced on zerodayclock.comzerodayclock.comZero Day ClockA public scoreboard for vulnerability management and exploitation. 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 19/09/2026exploiting software flaws is now the top way attackers get in (31%, up from 20%), with AI cutting the time to exploit from months to hours. www.verizon.com/about/news/b...verizon.comBreach entry point, 2026 DBIR finds | About VerizonThe 2026 DBIR reveals that vulnerability exploitation has surpassed stolen credentials as the top breach entry point. 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 19/09/2026The UK's NCSC says AI will "almost certainly" increase the frequency and intensity of cyber threats up to 2027.ncsc.gov.ukImpact of AI on cyber threat from now to 2027An NCSC assessment highlighting the impacts on cyber threat from AI developments between now and 2027. 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 18/09/2026Getting busier with busywork example of the weekfortune.comShopify CEO says employees' 'slop grenades' are making more work for everyone else | FortuneHe said AI is helping workers produce more output, but the quality of it is so bad that their colleagues have to spend more time fixing it 154
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 18/09/2026Thx for your presentation deck btw sources were useful for my blog I think I cited at least one 110
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 18/09/2026On the increase in cyber attacks zerodayclock.comzerodayclock.comZero Day ClockA public scoreboard for vulnerability management and exploitation. 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 18/09/2026Lol the anger not just me then. Get you re LLMs making it hard to do bad things (unless guardrails intentionally removed e.g. huggingface) but I don't think will be long b4 won't take much to build an LLM without any and just use more brute force 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 18/09/2026Also orgs are getting fast and loose wiring agents into their systems as fast as they can, chasing promised productivity, building on something we don’t know how to contain, and shipping it to everyone while we work it out. 200
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 18/09/2026At least it's out of my head now, but I'm genuinely worried, particularly for the tsunami of cyber attacks I see coming 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 18/09/2026It has all been making me really angry – the media lapping it up and letting it go unchallenged. So angry I’ve been struggling to be coherent in collecting my thoughts on it all. Every time I think I’m there another sensational headline or take comes up and I’m flipping tables in my head again. 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 18/09/2026A fortnight of headlines about AI killing us all, and the thing actually coming at us is getting little attention as a result. It's not the models getting smarter, it's that we're wiring them up to everything, and nobody has worked out how to do that safely yet. blog.robbowley.net/2026/09/18/t...blog.robbowley.netThe AI threat is real, it just isn’t the one in the headlines | Rob Bowley 243
Reposted by Rob BowleyMartin Fowler @martinfowler.com · 17/09/2026NEW POST I see AI and LLMs as bringing a mix of boons and banes, but one feeling dominates: not just are they pretending to be a person, but the kind of person I don't like. martinfowler.com/articles/202...martinfowler.comI don't like LLMsa short post 45416
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 17/09/2026Of course the BBC have now updated the headline. BBC News - Uncontrolled AI could lead to 'silicon species' rivalling humans, warns Microsoft - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukUncontrolled AI could lead to 'silicon species' rivalling humans, warns MicrosoftMustafa Suleyman says he believes rival AI firm Anthropic is in effect teaching Claude it "may be conscious". 010
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 17/09/2026His words are full of contradictions and i find the whole exitential risk stuff a massive distraction from the risks with AI right now, quite to your point re how you have openclaw set up. There is a massive tsunami coming which I'm very worried about 010
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 17/09/2026Microsoft's AI boss: don't anthropomorphise AI. Also him, same article: we're "seeding a new silicon species which will no doubt compete with us for resources, no matter how much it cares about humanity and loves us". A rule so important he couldn't follow it for one interview.bbc.co.ukTech treating AI like humans is mistaken and misguided, Microsoft boss tells BBCMustafa Suleyman says he believes rival AI firm Anthropic is in effect teaching Claude it "may be conscious". 2181
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 16/09/2026This Coxon guy who has managed to get on every major news channel over the last week now saying the risks of global warming have been overstated pretty much tells you everything you need to know 030
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 16/09/2026Some good nuggets on what he's found work well at the bottom 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 16/09/2026Very good read, "Why Software Factories Fail"github.comadvanced-context-engineering-for-coding-agents/wsff.md at main · humanlayer/advanced-context-engineering-for-coding-agentsContribute to humanlayer/advanced-context-engineering-for-coding-agents development by creating an account on GitHub. 1153
Reposted by Rob BowleyRichard W. Bown is 📝 editing @bownie.bsky.social · 15/09/2026I rant, therefore I am. richardwbown.com/when-softwar...richardwbown.comWhen Software Engineering Lost It's WaySoftware engineering has never been cool, but the current level of executive excitement in software development process is scary 053
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 12/09/2026My god, I am TIRED of orgs constantly doing this pendulum swing. 25+ yrs in the industry, some things never change www.techradar.com/pro/meta-is-...techradar.comMeta is begging some employees to step up and become managers againMeta wants more managers for its AI work 240
Reposted by Rob BowleySam Littlefair @littlefair.ca · 12/09/2026“But how did the superintelligence gain access to all of our infrastructure and private data!?” “You’d never guess it, but we gave it privileged access to all of our infrastructure and private data.” 072
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 12/09/2026Seems orgs happy to let agents go wild in chase of promised productivity gains and less bothered by risk to reliability, safety and security. Like you say its all fine until its not - a bit like driving without seatbelts - is very unlikely you'll need it until that one in a thousand+ event 120
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 12/09/2026Half my feed is AI doom takes, when the risk most of us actually face in the near future is not a rogue superintelligence. 2130
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 11/09/2026Hard relateopusfived.devOpusfivedMake one button blue. Change nothing else. A short interactive comedy about agentic AI assistants that can never just do the thing. 066
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 10/09/2026Encona is the only actually reasonably hot sauce I can find in super markets 010
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 10/09/2026We're all still working it out. However Adam Thornhill (author of code as a crime scene, founder of CodeScene which is an excellent tool, long time XP/TDD practitioner) is the kind of person I will pay attention to. 210
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 10/09/2026...most of your tests are very fast low level ones, and with e2e tests spending a lot of effort making sure they are as decoupled as poss, fast, reliable etc 000
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 10/09/2026wrong way to go to have lots of tests? I've worked on plenty of v high test coverage systems. Re execution speed, the testing pyramid/trophy is still valid... 200
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 10/09/2026And Adam's approach is still very much "test-first" - driving each change from a failing test at the boundary and letting the implementation follow is much the same shape as ATDD/BDD/outside-in. What's gone is the inner loop, where the unit tests were the design tool as well as the verification. 030
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 10/09/2026It does NOT mean not having automated tests, you need zillions of all types of tests (e2e, integration, unit etc), all over the place 210
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 10/09/2026In part, it is near impossible to get AI/agents to do actual TDD, particularly writing the tests first. 210
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 10/09/2026Interesting article, I've seen a few articles recently from experienced XP background type folks saying they're dropping lower level TDD in favour of more outside in acceptance/E2E test driven approachadamtornhill.substack.comPractices I Abandoned with Agents: An Ode to Test-Driven DevelopmentAfter 25 years with TDD, we are now parting ways. The incremental TDD steps were great for human cognition, but didn't survive the transition to agentic coding. 264
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 07/09/2026Really interesting article I just came across. Automating part of programming isn't new, and it has never removed a phase - the work gets absorbed and moves. It's about the 1950s, but the authors draw the line straight to AI coding today.cacm.acm.orgThe Myth of the Coder – Communications of the ACM 031
Reposted by Rob BowleyMartin Fowler @martinfowler.com · 02/09/2026Rachel's Ramblings: Maybe We Shouldn't Be Reviewing All This Code: Or, perhaps the problem isn't that AI has broken code review, maybe it’s that we've been using code review to solve the wrong problems martinfowler.com/rachels-ramb...martinfowler.comMaybe We Shouldn't Be Reviewing All This CodeOr, perhaps the problem isn't that AI has broken code review, maybe it’s that we've been using code review to solve the wrong problems 3238
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 25/08/2026linear.appHow teams build – LinearAI usage patterns in software teams: who is adopting AI, how it reshapes where teams spend their time, and how much more they ship. 020
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 24/08/2026Only taken 25+ yrs of domesticity to learn non-stick pans a complete waste of money Spend a fortune on fancy Le Creuset, still landfill in 5yrs Get quality stainless steel, can scrub with wire wool, stick in dishwasher, will last a lifetime + not had issues with stuff sticking if pre-heat properly 040
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 24/08/2026yegge.aiFences, not Sandboxes — Steve YeggeFences, not Sandboxes 000
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 22/08/2026F1 i guess was not so obvious but I wouldnt say I thought a great movie 100
Rob Bowley @robbowley.net · 22/08/2026CGI in movies peaked with Jurassic Park. Can't think of a heavily CGI movie I rate since. Watching Gladiator 2 coz on Netflix, first scene haeavily CGI boat battle, is just meh. 510