Originally Posted by JuggleDan
When you increase "software intelligence", you exponentially increase incorrect specification risks, code complexity, testing costs...
For those of a more mechanical bent, a reasonable analogy would be the DC-10 cargo door situation in the 1970s. The system as specified around a hydraulic mechanism was fairly simple and the failure mode was non-catastrophic. Customer specified a change to electrical actuators to save weight, but this increased the complexity of the design significantly, and had the unintended knock-on effect of making the failure mode of the design much less safe.