The lane's two central terms get formal definitions

The AI Coding Dictionary, maintained by Matt Pocock's AI Hero, has added entries for "software factory" and "dark factory," the two terms this publication is named for. It defines a software factory as "a system of work where triggers, not humans, start agent sessions, so more work runs AFK and HITL time is saved for what needs it," and a dark factory as "a codebase, or part of one, where a software factory writes the code and no human ever reviews it." Pocock posted the additions on X on September 24; the software factory entry had reached 893 likes and 72,300 views by this morning, up from 779 likes at the same reading roughly 18 hours earlier.

Why it matters: A term used loosely and inconsistently across practitioner writing for months now has a short, citable, canonical definition to point to. That matters less for what it changes today than for what it settles going forward: "dark factory" has a specific meaning, a codebase a factory writes with no human review, and it is not just a synonym for "AI wrote it."