The big talk about AI is how many jobs and what skills are under threat with its development and staggering abilities to provide code and information in a matter of seconds. We are still in the early stages of artificial intelligence so there is no definite answer to whether this is something to worry about. However, AI is becoming more and more familiar with types of code and becoming good at it at a more exceptional level.
Once AI is taught something, that’s it; it knows it forever, and that’s just one of the things that sets it apart from humans. This makes sense as coding is a very technical process, it’s very easy for human error to get in the way, and it doesn’t tend to rely on emotion, unique thoughts or creative ideas like poetry.
Although there is intuition to consider and goes alongside some types of code, current coders and software developers believe that AI hasn’t got the means to make these types of code automated. But let’s dive into the future of AI and it’s part with coding and software engineering. First, let’s explore why and what the growing concerns are.
Growing Concerns
According to a team of researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, there is a high likelihood that AI will replace software developers as early as 2040, but as technology continues to evolve at astonishing rates, it could be sooner. Not to mention, it will make a multitude of other tech jobs obsolete from now to 2040.
Software developers are on edge and for good reason; they’ve spent money, time and effort becoming the best while AI just steps in and takes over. Almost 30% of the 550 software developers surveyed by Evans Data Corporation have stated their beliefs that all their efforts to become leading and successful software developers will be replaced with artificial intelligence. At first glance, 30% is relatively low and it’s interesting to understand why the other 70% don’t seem to be as threatened.
So let’s dive into the reasons why AI is creating this concern among software developers.
How AI Has Influenced Software Development
Software development is just one of the industries that AI has impacted in the coming years and through its evolution, it has brought up several notable changes and advancements. Here are just a few that we have noticed but it’s important to note that these changes are just the beginning and with new developments, the list will only get longer.
Automation and Productivity
AI has made leaps and bounds with automation within certain tasks that were either tiresome or time-consuming, which, all in all, has given people more time to focus on other things, boosting morale and productivity. A good example would be generating new and potential code snippets, bug detection and providing a solution to fix said bug. This can give software developers the chance to work on bigger and better things for the industry.
Testing and Quality Assurance
There are now tools that can test large amounts of code before they are used, This is a good way to go over new code in a matter of seconds, find the problems and at the same time give you solutions. This is great to make things not only secure but also strive for high-quality software.
Code Generation
While it’s good at testing and quality assurance, AI cannot develop code based on existing patterns and examples, Once AI is taught something, it doesn’t forget. This includes auto-complete, which suggests making software developers’ lives that much easier and more efficient. Not to mention, recently it has shown great progress in identifying reductant parts and suggesting improvements. This is where causes of concern emerge, the idea that AI could create newer and better code compared to professionals now it’s being taught existing patterns.
Data-driven decision-making
While the increasing quality and availability of AI is becoming more apparent with things such as machine learning, it has allowed developers to make these decisions at a much faster pace. Through its ability to analyse large amounts of data, and patterns and even make predictions for the future, while saving developers time, it also optimizes their performance and security.
What It’s Store For Software Developers
While it’s hard to predict the future, just based on the current applications AI has already suggested that there is room for it alongside developers with the chance to take over, in the respect that AI will only know what it is taught this suggests that software developers aren’t out of a job but more in a teaching role. But nothing is for certain, there are a lot of things that could happen in the next five years.
What is certain is that AI will radically change the software development sector meaning they have to move with the flow of the direction technology is taking.
