What is fuzzy computer?

It's a blog by @holdenmatt, where I'll be writing and building in public as I explore the idea of "fuzzy computing", i.e. how can we program computers in plain English, using AI tools?

For the last two years, I've been thinking about "fuzzy compilers" as a metaphor for LLMs. But only recently have models gotten good enough that I can write a full plain English spec and have an AI tool like Claude Code execute it to completion.

How will that capability change how we build software? What new tools will we need?

A new kind of microprocessor

Zooming out, what's going on here?

Intel released their first microprocessor in 1971. The last 50 years of computing—the PC, Internet, cloud, and mobile eras—were built from strict instructions and syntax.

But LLMs are something weird and new. They're fuzzy microprocessors that can understand our native languages and operate on human instructions, intentions, or ideas as "source code".

Up the ladder we go

We've been climbing the ladder of abstraction since computing began—from ENIAC's vacuum tubes to IBM's punch cards to assembly to C to BASIC to Python/JS to TypeScript/Swift. Each rung let us express our intentions at a higher level, with compilers handling the translation down the stack.

The shift from precise to fuzzy microprocessors offers us a weird new rung to climb. But this next step isn't another programming language for specialists. It's the natural, intuitive, fuzzy languages we already speak, like English, French, or Hindi.

We've already turned over a lot of human agency to complex software systems. What if we could program more of them in our native languages? Could more stakeholders or citizens participate in discussions and debates about how we want them to work?

Old ideas, but fuzzy

If LLMs are fuzzy microprocessors, what else might need to change up and down our computing stack?

What if we revisited some of the best ideas from computing history—REPLs, compilers, pipes, crons, MapReduce, React, design systems—and asked "what if X, but fuzzy?" What changes? What new tools, primitives, or patterns might emerge?

My fuzzy plan

I'm not sure what this project is yet. I just think it's a rich maze to explore, and I plan to follow my curiosity to see where it leads.

I'll be writing and building in public as I go. If you want to follow along, you can sign up to get updates, or find me on X or LinkedIn.

- matt :)