GoKawiilOpinion piece argues software engineering needs licensing like civil engineering
An industry commentator argues that software engineers face far less accountability than structural engineers, despite code failures already causing mass casualties, citing examples like AI-driven military drones and safety-critical AI systems. The piece contrasts civil engineering's licensing system, born from disasters like the 1928 St Francis Dam collapse, with software's near-total lack of formal oversight. It also outlines why regulating code is structurally harder than regulating physical construction, including the sheer number of self-taught coders and software's borderless nature.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
As AI and autonomous systems take on life-or-death decisions in warfare, healthcare, and infrastructure, the absence of enforceable accountability standards for software creators becomes a growing public safety gap. Unlike bridges or dams, flawed code can be deployed globally instantly, making traditional regulatory models built around physical location and licensed gatekeepers difficult to apply. This tension sets up a looming policy debate over how governments might eventually impose engineering-style accountability on an industry that has largely avoided it.
- Civil engineers face personal liability for failures; software engineers generally do not, despite comparable or greater harm potential.
- AI is increasingly embedded in safety-critical and military systems, raising the stakes of unregulated software errors.
- Regulating software is structurally harder than regulating construction due to the scale of practitioners and lack of physical jurisdiction.
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Published there as: “Why the software industry needs a lot of regulation”
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