The internet has a human slop problem, and AI is exposing it
The article argues that the recent 'Black October' cybersecurity vulnerabilities are primarily due to long-standing, poorly maintained human-written software rather than AI. While AI is now being used to exploit these weaknesses more efficiently, the root cause is decades of neglected technical debt.
Why it matters
It highlights the growing urgency for companies to address legacy security flaws as AI lowers the barrier to entry for cyberattacks.
Vercel's Tom Occhino, left, with Tools for Humanity's Tiago Sada at an event in San Francisco in April. Kimberly White/Getty Images for Tools for Humanity Everyone complains about AI-generated junk. But decades of sloppy human-written software may be a much bigger problem. This week's "Black October" freakout was caused by human slop, not AI. The internet has a slop problem. And for once, we can't blame AI . Most of us spend hours online every day without thinking much about the software holding everything together. We assume somebody, somewhere, has made sure it all works properly. So it probably came as a shock this week to discover just how vulnerable some of that software is. The cybersecurity freakout dubbed " Black October " has inspired warnings about AI-powered hackers, digital catastrophe, and even advice to stockpile cash and canned food. At first glance, AI looks like the villain.
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