Okay, so Microsoft’s CTO is out there saying AI is going to eat software developers’ jobs by 2025. That’s like next Tuesday in tech years.
Seriously, though, what are we going to do, all become baristas? The real kicker here is that AI is now good enough to write code, not just spit out some basic “Hello, World!” nonsense, but actually build complex systems.
So, think about that for a second: the thing we use to automate everything else is now automating us. Is this progress, or is Skynet prepping for its takeover? Maybe both, right?
Now, before all you coders start panic-Googling plumbing apprenticeships, let’s pump the brakes a little. AI-generated code isn’t perfect. It still needs humans to tell it what to do and then debug the inevitable cluster of errors it creates.
So, it’s more like AI is becoming the super-caffeinated intern who never sleeps but still needs constant supervision. Which, admittedly, sounds like half the developers I’ve worked with.
But here’s the rub: even if AI only takes over the grunt work, the boring stuff, that frees up developers to do what, exactly? Management? Design the stuff that usually requires a human touch and, more importantly, empathy?
Maybe, but now there are fewer dev jobs overall, which means more fierce competition for those remaining creative gigs. Suddenly, knowing algorithms isn’t enough; you also have to be a frickin’ artist. Great.
So, now, along with having crippling anxiety, I also need to be good at finger paints? And what about the ethical implications? Who’s responsible when AI-generated code screws up and causes a self-driving car to drive directly into the nearest daycare?
Is it the AI’s parent company, Microsoft? The company that deployed the code? The poor schmuck who wrote the prompt? The lawyers are going to have a field day with this one; I can already see them frothing at the mouth like rabid weasels.
But look, this could be a good thing. Imagine a world where writing code isn’t a soul-crushing grind, where developers can actually focus on innovation, on building cool, groundbreaking stuff.
Maybe we’ll finally get that hoverboard we were promised in Back to the Future Part II. Although I realize that movie was set for 2015, and we can’t even get the battery life in a Tesla correct, so maybe I’m being too optimistic.
The question isn’t if AI will change software development; it’s how. Are we ready for a world where technology is not just built by humans but conceived by machines?
It sounds really cool, or will it just create an even bigger gap between the haves and have-nots, where you either know the right prompts or you’re stuck programming enterprise-level printer drivers for eternity?
Maybe it is best if I apply to be a barista after all; can AI properly foam milk? Probably. Crap.
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