AI is quick but risky for updating old software

Technical debt and hasty AI coding call for human oversight

2026-01-06

(Press-News.org) At first glance, artificial intelligence looks like a software developer’s dream. A recent McKinsey & Company report found that programmers generated code up to 45% faster with the help of generative AI.

But if it’s not used strategically, AI can become a developer’s nightmare. So says Edward Anderson Jr., professor of information, risk, and operations management and Betty and Glenn Mortimer Centennial Professor in Business at Texas McCombs.

The problem arises when AI is used to write code that interacts with so-called legacy systems with outdated software, he explains. These environments are often awash in shortcuts, quick fixes, and other poor programming practices.

Such technical debt costs U.S. companies $1.5 trillion in reduced productivity and cybercrime, estimates the Consortium for Information & Software Quality.

It can also lead to real-world meltdowns. In 2022, Southwest Airlines’ 20-year-old scheduling system crashed, stranding passengers on nearly 17,000 flights.

But carelessly using AI to patch such systems risks making them even worse, Anderson warns. For one thing, AI trains on existing code, with all its defects. Thus, it tends to create more technical debt per line of code than trained, experienced human software engineers would.

How can companies avoid such problems? Anderson — with Geoffrey Parker of Dartmouth College and Burcu Tan of the University of New Mexico — interviewed dozens of programmers in a variety of industries. He offers some best practices for AI-assisted software development:

Make technical debt an engineering priority.

As companies race to market, fixing technical debt is often a low priority, Anderson says. They kick the can down the road, as Southwest Airlines did.

Rather than fixing something when it breaks, companies should incorporate the overhaul of technical debt into developers’ everyday workflows — especially if they’re using AI to make the repairs.

“This is about organizational processes,” he says. “If you’re going to use AI, and there’s a chance that you could be increasing the rate of technical debt generation, you’re going to have to allocate more time to doing the retirement.”

Develop clear guidelines for AI-assisted coding.

C-suite policies may address AI usage in general terms, but protocols in daily software development are still evolving, Anderson says. To help develop them, software teams should document when they are using AI and why.

Besides clearly defining tasks, they should also keep a human in the loop, he adds. “You really want to make sure you’ve got somebody who has a lot of training in software engineering and experience to catch the AI when it’s making mistakes.”

Train developers on the hazards of AI coding.

As the ranks of experienced developers shrink due to retirement, they may be replaced by inexperienced coders who deploy AI tools unchecked — especially in legacy environments.

In such situations, knowledge transfer is critical, Anderson says. Performance goals for senior programmers should include formal mentoring: not just reviewing code written by junior developers but training them in effective and responsible use of AI.

“Let me be clear: I think AI is a productivity booster,” Anderson says. “It’s just that you have to use it thoughtfully — and give software engineers the time to do that.”

“The Hidden Costs of Coding With Generative AI” is published in the MIT Sloan Management Review.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Revolutionizing biosecurity: new multi-omics framework to transform invasive species management

2026-01-06

Beijing, China — Biological invasion has become one of the most significant drivers of global ecological disruption, causing billions of dollars in economic losses annually. Yet, for decades, our response to these "alien" species has been largely reactive-acting only after a species has already established itself and caused damage. In a major review published in the journal Biological Diversity, Professor Aibin Zhan from the Research Center for Eco - Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposes a paradigm shift. The study introduces a "proactive, predictive, and integrative" framework driven by multi - omics technologies, offering a high - resolution ...

From ancient herb to modern medicine: new review unveils the multi-targeted healing potential of Borago officinalis

2026-01-06

LUCKNOW, India — For centuries, Borago officinalis - commonly known as Borage or the Starflower - has been a staple of traditional medicine. Now, a comprehensive review published in the journal Biological Diversity reveals the scientific "blueprint" behind this plant's diverse therapeutic effects, positioning it as a powerful candidate for modern drug development. The study, led by researchers at the Department of Pharmacology, Integral University, provides an exhaustive analysis of how Borage interacts with the human body at a molecular level. By synthesizing data from both preclinical trials and human clinical ...

Building a global scientific community: Biological Diversity Journal announces dual recruitment of Editorial Board and Youth Editorial Board members

2026-01-06

Date: January 6, 2026 Source: Editorial Office of Biological Diversity Contact: bd.admin@scbg.ac.cn Biological Diversity, a premier international journal dedicated to the holistic study of life on Earth, has officially launched its global recruitment drive for both the Editorial Board (EB) and the Youth Editorial Board (YEB). To address the complexity of the global biodiversity crisis, the journal is seeking experts across a systematic spectrum of disciplines. This recruitment aims to create a "dual - tier" leadership structure-combining the strategic wisdom of established world - class scientists with the innovative energy ...

Microbes that break down antibiotics help protect ecosystems under drug pollution

2026-01-06

Antibiotics that escape into the environment are widely recognized as a growing threat to ecosystems, wastewater treatment performance, and the spread of antimicrobial resistance. A new study shows that certain microbes can act as community protectors by breaking down antibiotics and stabilizing entire microbial ecosystems, offering a new way to rethink environmental risk assessment and pollution management. Researchers investigated how microbial communities respond to sulfamethoxazole, a commonly detected antibiotic in wastewater and natural waters. Their findings reveal that the ability of a community to degrade antibiotics can be more important than the antibiotic ...

Smart biochar that remembers pollutants offers a new way to clean water and recycle biomass

2026-01-06

Scientists have combined molecular imprinting technology with biochar to create materials that can recognize and capture specific molecules with remarkable precision. Biochar is a porous carbon material made by heating biomass such as crop residues in low-oxygen conditions, and is already valued for its low cost, large surface area, and environmental friendliness. Molecular imprinting works by “teaching” a polymer to remember the shape and chemical features of a target molecule, then locking that memory into tiny ...

Rice genes matter more than domestication in shaping plant microbiomes

2026-01-06

Rice feeds more than half of the world’s population, but the tiny microbes living on and around rice plants may be just as important as the crop itself. A new study reveals that the specific genetic identity of a rice plant plays a stronger role than whether it is wild or domesticated in determining which microbes it hosts and how those microbes function. The research, published in Agricultural Ecology and Environment, shows that differences among rice genotypes strongly shape microbial communities in both the soil surrounding roots, known as the rhizosphere, and on leaf surfaces, known as the phyllosphere. ...

Ticking time bomb: Some farmers report as many as 70 tick encounters over a 6-month period

2026-01-06

Finding one tick on your body is scary enough – tick-borne diseases are serious – but what if you found more than 10 on yourself in just one month? That’s the plight of some farmers as the threat of ticks and tick-borne diseases grows, according to new research featuring experts at Binghamton University, State University of New York. New research led by Mandy Roome, associate director of the Tick-borne Disease Center at Binghamton University, State University of New York, reveals that farmers and outdoor workers in the Northeast are facing an escalating threat of tick-borne diseases, which could be devastating ...

Turning garden and crop waste into plastics

2026-01-06

Turning green waste, hay and algae into fully biodegradable plastics for use in medical products, car components, insulation and packaging is the goal of a new Junior Research Group at the University of Oldenburg in the northwest of Germany. Led by chemist Dr Melanie Walther, the team will combine eco-friendly and application-oriented approaches to develop a cost-effective, energy-efficient technology for making innovative plastics based on polybutylene succinate (PBS) which are made entirely out of organic waste. The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) is providing around 2.7 million euros in funding for the EcoPBS project. “The work of the new Junior Research ...

Scientists discover ‘platypus galaxies’ in the early universe

2026-01-06

Scientists at the University of Missouri have identified a small group of unusual objects in the early universe. Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Haojing Yan and his team at Mizzou’s College of Arts and Science spotted these strange objects, which seem like one galactic thing but have the unmistakable fingerprints of something else entirely. These objects have “point-like” features that would normally place them in one of two categories: stars or quasars, which are the brilliant ...

Seeing thyroid cancer in a new light: when AI meets label-free imaging in the operating room

2026-01-06

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine cancer, affecting more people each year as detection rates continue to rise. During tumor excision, surgeons often struggle to determine exactly how much tissue should be removed, as distinguishing cancer from healthy tissue in real time is challenging and nearby structures are extremely delicate. Today, diagnosis and margin assessment rely on fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and traditional pathology. While accurate, these methods are slow, sometimes inconclusive, and offer no real-time guidance in the operating room. As a result, patients may undergo unnecessary ...

AI is quick but risky for updating old software

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: