Martin Fowler: 'I Don't Like LLMs' — Useful, but the Persona Grates
blaizedsouza · x · 2026-09-18
Renowned software architect Martin Fowler published 'I don't like LLMs', laying out his mixed feelings about AI.
- He's excited by productivity gains but fears agent swarms over infrastructure and bioweapon design; he believes we have no choice but to ride the AI train
- The dominant emotion: dislike. LLMs speak in a grating 'LLM-voice', an uncanny valley of talking to a human; they confidently bullshit, fabricating with the same assurance as their useful answers, with only a veneer of fake remorse when called out
- He cites Jessica Kerr: 'not only are they useful, it is irresponsible not to use them' — mirroring polls showing people find models useful but bad for society
- He hopes LLMs are just young, but worries the Silicon Valley brogrammer subculture that builds them bakes in its worldview, and warns against anthropomorphizing agents as conscious beings
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