Our take: In “‘Reverse-Engineer Anything’ Is the New Wild West of AI,” Jason Koebler of 404 Media describes a sudden wave of people using AI agents to clone, decompile and modify existing software. Users are replacing the operating systems on smart TVs to strip out ads, reviving abandoned devices and copying features from commercial apps, often with the help of a viral GitHub project. Koebler sees a mixed picture. These tools let people take back control of devices that companies locked down, but they also make it easy to copy competitors’ work and spread buggy, insecure code faster than communities can review it. The article raises useful questions for digital humanists about software preservation, open source communities and the long-term maintenance of digital tools.
