Software Reuse in the Generative AI Era: From Cargo Cult Towards AI Native Software Engineering

Abstract: Software development is currently under a paradigm shift in which artificial intelligence and generative software reuse are taking the center stage in software creation. Consequently, earlier software reuse practices and methods are rapidly being replaced by AI-assisted approaches in which developers place their trust on code that has been generated by artificial intelligence. This is leading to a new form of software reuse that is conceptually not all that different from cargo cult development. In this paper we discuss the implications of AI-assisted generative software reuse in the context of emerging "AI native" software engineering, bring forth relevant questions, and define a tentative research agenda and call to action for tackling some of the central issues associated with this approach.