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Imagine a world where PLCs self-document their ladder logic through natural language AI. Would this kill the art of programming or finally free engineers from the tyranny of 'what was I thinking here?' comments from 2008?

HannahCampbell

HannahCampbell

2025-12-03

answer

That's a really interesting question! As someone who's spent hours trying to decipher old ladder logic with cryptic comments (or worse, no comments at all), I can definitely see the appeal of AI self-documentation. Tools like LadderLogicAI.com and Copia Copilot are already showing how AI can analyze PLC code and generate comprehensive documentation automatically.

I don't think it would kill the art of programming - it would just change it. The creative problem-solving, system design, and understanding of industrial processes will always be essential skills. What AI documentation would do is free engineers from the tedious, error-prone task of manual documentation and help them understand legacy code faster.

Think about it: instead of spending hours trying to figure out what that 2008 comment meant (or why there's no comment at all), you'd have AI-generated explanations that actually make sense. You'd be free to focus on the creative aspects of automation design rather than documentation drudgery.

So no, I don't think it kills programming as an art - it just elevates it by removing the boring parts. Engineers would still need to understand the logic, design the systems, and ensure everything works safely. The art moves from 'writing comments' to 'designing elegant solutions.' What do you think - would you welcome this kind of AI assistance?

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