Software Reuse in the Generative AI Era: From Cargo Cult Towards AI Native Software Engineering

TL;DR

The paper discusses the shift towards AI-assisted generative software reuse in software engineering, highlighting its implications, challenges, and the need for a new research agenda to address emerging issues.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of AI native software engineering and outlines a research agenda for understanding and improving AI-assisted software reuse practices.

Findings

AI-assisted reuse is replacing traditional methods rapidly.

Current practices resemble cargo cult development.

A need for new frameworks and research in AI native software engineering.

Abstract

Software development is currently under a paradigm shift in which artificial intelligence and generative software reuse are taking the center stage in software creation. Consequently, earlier software reuse practices and methods are rapidly being replaced by AI-assisted approaches in which developers place their trust on code that has been generated by artificial intelligence. This is leading to a new form of software reuse that is conceptually not all that different from cargo cult development. In this paper we discuss the implications of AI-assisted generative software reuse in the context of emerging "AI native" software engineering, bring forth relevant questions, and define a tentative research agenda and call to action for tackling some of the central issues associated with this approach.