A software engineer used AI tools to build free versions of Microsoft Office and Photoshop, TechCentral reported. The report described them as essentially free versions of the paid Microsoft and Adobe programs.
The method is called reverse engineering. AI tools break a program down into its parts, then build code that copies those parts, according to the report.
The report said reverse engineering “will likely usher in a new era where traditional ways of monetising software don’t work anymore”.
The report compared the method with vibe coding. In vibe coding, a person tells AI what a program should do and the AI tries to create it. The report said reverse engineering works better for large, complex programs.
A freely available AI tool called Reverse Engineer Anything has also gone viral among coders, TechCentral reported.
Some people see this as a return to the early days of the internet, the report said. Software at that time was free to use and free to change.
The report said this return is probably not going to happen. It also listed problems with the new copies. Some of the software has already been reported to have strange bugs.
Those bugs are likely to be hard to find because an AI tool did so much of the coding, the report said.
Files could also become a problem. The report said there is no guarantee files will stay compatible if people change their own copies of Word. A file opened in a free version may not open for someone using the official Microsoft product.
The law may also be tested. The report said reverse engineering does not break any locks, so it may not infringe a United States copyright law. It said this may still face legal challenges.
In the 1990s, free and open-source software competed with paid software, according to the report. It said Microsoft was the loudest producer of paid programs.
People could download open-source code and change it until a program worked the way they wanted, the report said.
In late 1998, the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act gave paid software strong protection. The report said the law made it illegal to try to break the locks that prevent people from changing a program.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.