The Deploy/Maintain Dichotomy
Developing and deploying ML systems is relatively fast and cheap. Maintaining them over time is difficult and expensive.
This asymmetry makes ML debt dangerous. The speed of initial deployment creates an illusion of low cost. The true cost, ongoing maintenance, monitoring, dependency management, handling external world changes, compounds silently over time.
Hidden debt is particularly insidious because it accrues interest without visible warning signs. A team moving quickly is not evidence of low debt or good practices; it may simply mean the bill hasn’t come due yet.
The question isn’t whether you’re shipping fast. It’s whether you’re building something you can still improve a year from now.
Related: 05-atom—ml-code-fraction, 05-molecule—ml-technical-debt-taxonomy, 05-atom—configuration-debt