Great post. A few choice quotes:
> Often the model isn’t flaky at understanding the task. It’s flaky at expressing itself. You’re blaming the pilot for the landing gear.
> The model is the moat. The harness is the bridge. Burning bridges just means fewer people bother to cross. Treating harnesses as solved, or even inconsequential, is very short-sighted.
> The gap between “cool demo” and “reliable tool” isn’t model magic. It’s careful, rather boring, empirical engineering at the tool boundary.
My personal favorite: That’s not a threat. It’s free R&D.
You’re absolutely right! This isn’t your average engineering advice— it’s like painting the reader a vivid tapestry of the author’s mind.