I had commented in a previous thread about the possibility of using A.I. to reverse engineer device drivers for Windows, Linux, or unsupported Intel Mac operating systems to give new life to old printers and scanners once Intel compatibility is lost in macOS 28. (A very good thread, by the way.)
I’ve also heard of more ambitious attempts using A.I. to create work-alike versions of major apps and even operating systems. For example, here is an “early alpha” version of an open-source, clean room implementation of Photoshop functionality:
Notably, the developer also is working on equivalents for other components of Adobe’s suite. I have no doubt that Adobe will attempt to find a way to sue the developer, but there is well-established case law in the United States that allows clean room implementations of proprietary software.
No one is saying that this project is ready for serious professional workflows, but it will be very interesting to watch this space develop.
(Note: I first learned about photocraft via a tweet from noted open-source developer, Eric S. Raymond.)