Loop Engineering: New Idea or Old Automation?

This article explores the concept of "loop engineering," a practice where developers design systems that allow AI agents to run, iterate, and self-correct autonomously rather than relying on manual prompting. The authors outline a four-layer architectural stack—comprising agent, verification, event-driven, and hill-climbing loops—while detailing critical design challenges such as managing context and defining stopping conditions. Ultimately, the piece examines whether this approach represents a groundbreaking new paradigm in AI engineering or is simply a rebranding of traditional software automation.