AI and the Industrial Revolution
The Factory Was the Real Invention
The factory, not the machine, was the real invention. The final post in the series: how the organisation decides what AI productivity is worth, and who it is for.
AI and the Industrial Revolution
Three essays on what the first Industrial Revolution can tell us about what agentic AI is doing to software engineering, argued from economic history and evidence, not prediction. The through-line: agents don't out-think engineers, they change the economics of attempting, the location of skill, and who captures what follows. Each essay stands on its own. In order, they run from the individual engineer, to the codebase, to the organisation.
AI and the Industrial Revolution
Better Ground, Not a Better Model
You don't get a better agent by buying a better model alone. You get one by preparing the ground it runs on: the tests, the structure, the rules it runs inside.
AI and the Industrial Revolution
Cheap Tokens, Cheap Attempts
Cheap generation doesn't make engineering judgment obsolete. It makes it the scarce thing, and the first Industrial Revolution shows why.