I don't agree. This is basically an elaborate form of statistical process control, which has been proving itself useful and effective for nearly a century. We can quibble about the thresholds and false positive rates, but I think the idea of automating regression detection is perfectly sound.
Statistical process control as a concept is a sound idea in theory. When talking about real world complex dynamic systems like operating systems and processes handling random load vs things like assembly lines, it’s less clear it’s on a solid mathematical foundation. Clearly what’s happening in that paper isn’t starting out with some principled idea but instead filtering out patterns deemed “noise” and adjusting the levels for those filters to generate “results”. I think if you read through the lines it’s clear the engineers being supported by this tool aren’t really relying on it which tells you something
SPC gets used on complex dynamic systems all the time. It takes more work and more nuance, but it's doable. I don't see a categorical error here, it's about fine-tuning the details.
