Michael Hilton
A teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert in software engineering education. His work focuses on the impact of AI on programming education, and he participates in Microsoft's PRAISE program.
Timeline (last 90 days)
Carnegie Mellon University teaching professor Michael Hilton observed that roughly between the fall 2025 and spring 2026 semesters, AI was able to complete all the assignments in his senior software engineering course in one shot, with students only needing to copy and paste to finish.
Michael Hilton and Mary Shaw published an opinion piece in The New York Times titled 'You're a Computer Scientist. Don't Panic.', arguing that when typing is no longer the bottleneck of software engineering, reading, understanding and critical thinking become key skills.
Professor Hilton emphasizes that reading and critiquing code is a separate skill, different from writing code, and that in the AI era this skill needs to be taught directly, just as computer education needs a 'code appreciation course'.
Professor Hilton draws an analogy between software engineering and civil engineering, pointing out that as the cost of writing code approaches zero, the engineering cost of ensuring the problem is solved correctly has not decreased.
All Facts (4)
Michael Hilton and Mary Shaw published an opinion piece in The New York Times titled 'You're a Computer Scientist. Don't Panic.', arguing that when typing is no longer the bottleneck of software engineering, reading, understanding and critical thinking become key skills.
50%UnverifiedProfessor Hilton emphasizes that reading and critiquing code is a separate skill, different from writing code, and that in the AI era this skill needs to be taught directly, just as computer education needs a 'code appreciation course'.
50%UnverifiedProfessor Hilton draws an analogy between software engineering and civil engineering, pointing out that as the cost of writing code approaches zero, the engineering cost of ensuring the problem is solved correctly has not decreased.
50%UnverifiedCarnegie Mellon University teaching professor Michael Hilton observed that roughly between the fall 2025 and spring 2026 semesters, AI was able to complete all the assignments in his senior software engineering course in one shot, with students only needing to copy and paste to finish.
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