Vitalik Analyzes the Development and Limitations of Formal Verification, Discussion on Software Development Entering the "Ultimate Form" in the AI Era Heats Up

Odaily Planet Daily News, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published an article titled "A shallow dive into formal verification," systematically outlining the latest developments and limitations of formal verification within the Ethereum ecosystem and the broader computing field. The article points out that, in recent months, a new programming paradigm is rapidly emerging within Ethereum's frontier research circles: developers directly use very low-level languages (such as EVM bytecode, assembly) or Lean, and verify code correctness through automatically verifiable mathematical proofs. Theoretically, this method can both improve code efficiency and significantly enhance security, leading some researchers to call it "the ultimate form of software development."

Vitalik states that the core of formal verification is to verify program properties through machine-checkable mathematical proofs. Its value lies in shifting "security" from empirical testing to a provable logical system. In areas such as encrypted communication, cryptographic protocols, and blockchain systems (like zero-knowledge proofs and consensus mechanisms), this method has begun to be used for end-to-end verification of critical system behaviors.

The article also notes that the Ethereum ecosystem is exploring formal verification projects for key infrastructure, including EVM implementations, STARK proof systems, and post-quantum signatures, to enhance protocol-level security and reliability. However, Vitalik emphasizes that formal verification is not a "silver bullet." Its limitations include: security definitions relying on human modeling, some systems being difficult to fully formalize, and hardware or non-verified modules still potentially representing attack surfaces. Additionally, even when formal proofs exist, specification errors or uncovered assumptions can still lead to vulnerabilities.

Vitalik concludes by suggesting that a more pragmatic path is to combine formal verification with various methods such as AI-assisted programming, type systems, and testing frameworks, gradually improving software security under a framework of "redundantly expressing intent and automatically verifying consistency." Amid the trend of AI generating large-scale code, software systems will gradually differentiate into "vulnerable edge modules" and "highly trustworthy security cores." In the future, formal verification should be concentrated on core systems (such as blockchain protocols, operating system kernels, etc.) to build a verifiably secure digital infrastructure.