Teaching Novice Computing and Programming in the Agentic AI Era

Summary

A Communications of the ACM viewpoint by Kathi Fisler, Shriram Krishnamurthi, and Michael Littman examines how AI programming agents are changing computing education. Rather than framing the disruption as a threat, the authors argue that introductory courses should be refocused around the responsibilities created by AI-assisted programming. They use the metaphor of a “flaky compiler” to describe systems that can generate useful programs but still require careful oversight from their users. The authors propose turning introductory computing courses into early software-engineering courses, with students accountable for the software they produce with AI assistance. They also argue that this shift requires research into how program specification should be taught. The viewpoint has been accepted for publication in Communications of the ACM and is expected to appear in November 2026.