“Virtually all of the world’s software, from web browsers to spreadsheets to word processors, still depends on knowledge engineering, and Sutton sells that short.”
Our reading, the sentence that was checked:
Virtually all of the world's software still depends on knowledge engineering.
Assessment: Unresolved Evidence as of
Where and when Gary Marcus wrote it
Marcus on AI, The New Science of Alt Intelligence, paragraph 56.
- Said
- Source observed
- live page, full text, public
- Evidence as of
- the cutoff for this assessment
- Assessment recorded
- assessment marcus-the-new-science-of-alt-intelligence-9051c6-a1
We recorded 20 claims from this post. See every claim from this post.
The wording above is the version this site observed on 2026-10-29. The source may have been edited after 2022-05-14. This page does not claim the wording was captured then.
What the claim commits to
- Kind
- Observation
- Deadline, as the speaker wrote it
- None stated. This site does not add one.
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Deadline state on 2026-10-29
- No horizon (the release’s reference date)
From the speaker
- Virtually all of the world’s software
- from web browsers to spreadsheets to word processors
- still depends on knowledge engineering
Our interpretation
- The examples suggest an ordinary reading of knowledge engineering as deliberately programmed rules, algorithms and domain knowledge. This is broader than the specialist meaning of building knowledge bases for expert systems.
- Depends on means material functional dependence; it does not require every component to be handwritten.
- For this ongoing state without a reporting cadence, the target is May 2022 up to publication. Earlier releases are background context.
- Virtually all means nearly universal dependence across software categories, without imposing an invented percentage.
Counts as supported if: Representative architecture or implementation evidence across the software population establishes nearly universal material dependence on explicitly engineered logic.
Counts as contradicted if: Representative evidence establishes a substantial population of software whose functioning does not materially depend on such logic.
Retrospective: these criteria were written after the outcome was public.
Current assessment
Was it true for the period described?
Outcome: Unresolved
The record was checked, and the evidence available by the cutoff does not settle it.
Scored on a plain reading. The speaker named no measure for this claim, so it was judged on the reading an informed reader would take, stated below under our interpretation. Both reviews had to find that reading fair.
- Evidence as of
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Assessment recorded
- Policy version
- 2026-10-28.7
Rationale
The primary sources are consistent with Marcus's examples: contemporary browsers and office software depend on engineered components. They do not establish the worldwide proportion. Calling all explicit programming knowledge engineering also makes a substantial interpretive choice. The evidence supports the examples without settling the full claim.
Limitations
- The reviewed implementations are illustrative rather than a representative sample.
- The meaning of knowledge engineering materially affects the assessment.
Evidence (2 items)
Context only: Chromium Project,
enforcing security characteristics.
Why it matters here: This documents material dependence on explicitly implemented policies in a browser. It supports Marcus's example under the broad reading, but does not measure the worldwide software population.
- Publisher
- Chromium Project
- Kind of source
- Company disclosure: the company describing itself, not an independent finding
- Describes events of
- Public from
Context only: The Document Foundation,
document conversion libraries
Why it matters here: The release announcement identifies an office suite's dependence on conversion libraries. Treating this as knowledge engineering is the evaluator's broad reading, and the example does not establish near-universal prevalence.
- Publisher
- The Document Foundation
- Kind of source
- Company disclosure: the company describing itself, not an independent finding
- Describes events of
- Public from
What would settle it
A representative account of software architectures in May 2022, assessed under a clearly stated meaning of knowledge engineering.
Where it was said (1)
Said once in the sources this register covers.
: Marcus on AI, The New Science of Alt Intelligence
Virtually all of the world’s software, from web browsers to spreadsheets to word processors, still depends on knowledge engineering, and Sutton sells that short.
- Where
- paragraph 56
- Published
- 2022-05-14
- Source observed
- , live page
- Access
- full text, public
History
Assessment versions
- Assessment marcus-the-new-science-of-alt-intelligence-9051c6-a1: Current. Outcome: Unresolved. Evidence as of 2026-10-28. Public date not recorded.
Recorded events
Assessment publishedBy this site
First assessment published after both reviews and the final-text check passed.
About assessment marcus-the-new-science-of-alt-intelligence-9051c6-a1.