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"Structural engineers have a physical stamp that they apply to plans they approve, and if a building falls down due to design problems, they’re directly and personally responsible. Software engineers can deploy code that kills hundreds of people without anywhere near that level of accountability. Here’s why I don’t think that’s right, or even sustainable."

"They say regulations are written in blood, and it wasn’t until the failure of the St Francis Dam killed around 400 people in 1928 that licensing of civil engineers become a requirement in California. Software design flaws have already taken a much larger toll, and the future promises to make our work even more deadly. Already the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to autonomous drones having to take software-driven decisions about who to kill, and its clear that code will be a big part of warfare going forward. AI models are also becoming crucial components in safety-critical systems in almost every industry, and while I’m skeptical about the eschatological predictions of them gaining consciousness, any victims won’t care if the cause of a disaster was a malicious Skynet or just incompetent engineering."

"So, there’s plenty of blood already, and more to come, so why has software engineering escaped regulation so far? Here are some of the barriers:"

"Does this all mean that any kind of regulation is unrealistic? I’m confident that we will end up being held to account for the work we do in the long run, and I think the only question is whether we try to take the initiative and start something ourselves, or whether we will miss that opportunity and have rules dictated to us by outsiders. It’s obvious if you look at the bipartisan pushback against data centers that technology companies are losing the indulgence we’re accustomed to receiving from the public. Once the romantic mythology that has protected us in the past loses its power, we’ll be regulated like any other industry."

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