Mark Seemann: LLMs may not qualify as programming's next abstraction layer
blaizedsouza · x · 2026-11-03
Mark Seemann's new blog post tackles the popular claim that AI is the next abstraction layer in programming—after machine instructions, procedures, and objects—where plain words describe intent and AI writes the code.
Rather than dismissing it outright, he dissects the definition of 'abstraction'. Citing Dijkstra — 'the purpose of abstracting is not to be vague, but to create a new semantic level in which one can be absolutely precise' — he argues that prior layers of abstraction share a fundamental property: each level has a precise, well-defined meaning in terms of the level below. Natural-language output from LLMs lacks this precision.
Whether AI counts as a new abstraction layer therefore hinges on how you define the term; by the traditional programming standard, LLMs don't qualify. The piece walks through these semantic levels in detail.
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