With new and more powerful forms of AI being made generally available over the last year, there have been many questions raised as to how AI will impact how we work. If you have played around with ChatGPT or have just been following the field you’ll know that these technologies boast impressive skills, from gift brainstorming to writing songs.
Following the rise of these systems many have wondered about the impact they may have on the job market. AI like DALL E being able to create great looking images and ChatGPT being able to produce work similar to that of copywriters has some worried that they will be replaced. But how do these new creations impact software developers.
Software AI Tools
Its not just artists and copywriters who have to worry about AI tools, developers have also noticed that these tools are good at some programming tasks. For example, some developers have found that ChatGPT is capable of finding bugs in existing code that they provide to, faster than they could find them.
ChatGPT
In addition to this, some have found that ChatGPT is capable of generating code when tasked to. They found that ChatGPT can solve problems such as creating an algorithm to find the nth Fibonacci number, with the chatbot outputting Python code which does just that. “But ChatGPT can only perform simple tasks” you might say, but others have found that given the description of a broader problem, ChatGPT can output code that utilises existing libraries to the heavy lifting, resulting in the correct output.
Copilot
Another tool that has exploded in this space is Github Copilot, which generates code in your editor, just using the surrounding context and comments you give it as input. Some developers have found that this has massively improve their output.
Who Will Win?
So with all these amazing abilities will AI replace software developers soon? Ultimately no. The primary reason why is that software developers do far more than just write code. The responsibility of a software developer is to engage with their clients to help solve their unique problems and introduce and integrate effective and automated systems into their existing workflow. Furthermore, a software developer must always be forward thinking, creating what is possible in the moment, while leaving room for expansion in the future.
It’s this ongoing relationship with the client and the shared understanding of their business and existing platform that tools like ChatGPT and Copilot lack. This kind of creative problem-solving requires a human touch that AI simply cannot replicate.
So What Impact Will They Have?
The answer to whether AI will have an impact on software development is a resounding yes. Already, AI tools have proven to be incredibly useful in streamlining and optimising development processes. As a developer, I'm excited to work alongside AI in order to create amazing products and software. By embracing the potential of these tools, developers can enhance their skills and become even more productive than they already are.