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The New Code — Sean Grove, OpenAI
Takeaway
Treat natural-language specifications as the real source code; let models compile them into TypeScript, docs, or tests.
Summary
- Sean Grove (OpenAI alignment) argues that written specifications, not code, are the valuable artifact: code is a lossy projection of intent and 80-90% of engineers' work is structured communication.
- Uses the OpenAI Model Spec (open-sourced February, on GitHub as markdown) as a worked example: each clause has an ID like sy73 with a paired challenging-prompt file encoding success criteria.
- Frames vibe coding as communication-first where engineers wrongly keep the generated code and discard the prompt; argues this is 'version-controlling the binary and shredding the source'.
- Presents the 4o sycophancy incident as a case study where the spec aligned humans on the desired non-sycophantic behavior.
- Claims the most valuable future programmer is the one who writes specifications that fully capture intent — a skill shared with PMs and lawmakers.
specificationsopenaimodel-spec
Original description
In an era where AI transforms software development, the most valuable skill isn't writing code - it's communicating intent with precision. This talk reveals how specifications, not prompts or code, are becoming the fundamental unit of programming, and why spec-writing is the new superpower. Drawing from production experience, we demonstrate how rigorous, versioned specifications serve as the source of truth that compiles to documentation, evaluations, model behaviors, and maybe even code. Just as the US Constitution acts as a versioned spec with judicial review as its grader, AI systems need executable specifications that align both human teams and machine intelligence. We'll look at OpenAI's Model Spec as a real-world example. Finally, we'll end on some open questions about what the future of developer tooling looks like in a world where communication once again becomes the most important artifact in engineering. About Sean Grove Sean Grove works on alignment reasoning at OpenAI, helping translate high‑level intent into enforceable specs and evaluations. Before OpenAI he founded OneGraph, a GraphQL developer‑tools startup later acquired by Netlify. He has delivered dozens of technical talks worldwide on developer tooling, APIs, AI UX and design, and now alignment. Recorded at the AI Engineer World's Fair in San Francisco. Stay up to date on our upcoming events and content by joining our newsletter here: https://www.ai.engineer/newsletter