Omar Khattab: AI-era programs still need real languages, declarative specs and DSPy-style modules
lateinteraction · x · 2026-09-19
Omar Khattab (lateinteraction, DSPy author) pushes back on full 'vibe coding': conventional languages get crucial things right — composable functions, explicit control flow, modules, stable libraries, high-to-low compilation — and "we can't afford to lose any of these."
What's needed instead:
- Raise the abstraction level for defining and testing individual module behavior.
- Large modules will become declarative specs/contracts compiled to code.
- When even the spec is hard to define, modules get specified in natural language + metrics, a la DSPy — that's where "AI" lives in the program.
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