Why is it that the opinion of a "digital" Reporter and Management Professor are peddled as absolute truths?
I'm sure they are very intelligent people, but every time someone who hasn't spent any time writing software tells me what they think this or that will do I have to take it with a grain of salt.
There is so much more to software development than just spitting out code.
I feel like the same people crying wolf about AI/ChatGPT are the same ones who would push the idea of lines of code a day = productivity.
I'm sure it will displace some people in tech, no doubt. But maintaining code, coming up with requirements, devops/ci/cd, testing, support, etc are still a very necessary thing whether or not some silly service generated your code for you or not.
I remember when I graduated college my first employer was eager to use a low/no-code tool to produce applications. Everyone there claimed it was the future of "programming" and software development. Drag and drop coding would make it so the business analysts could "write code". How did that turn out?
I am skeptical of those who claim "IT'S OVER!!!" when they do not seem to understand the whole picture of writing software.
I'll probably eat crow in 10 years, but for now I will just continue on enjoying "coding". When the day comes that AI replaces my job, I'll learn something else. Writing software has done nothing but helped my ability to learn something quickly.
This is the umpteenth article I've seen on HN about the topic. It's getting repetitive. Maybe they are using ChatGTP for these articles!
Seriously tho, I'll believe it when I see it. The few times I used ChatGTP for code, it was extremely mediocre, unless I held its hand though every block of code. So what it boils down to, natural language has become a "programming language". Untill we get general purpose AI that can understand requirements/limitations, read AND write code, make sensible tests, anticipate security threats, maintain code and present results to stakeholders all on consumer HW, "coders" aren't going anywhere.
Edit:
After reading the article, the first few paragraphs of which are basically an advert for OpenAI, the Author seems to push an image of the "arrogant" unable to see the potential of AI. This just some weird marketing material aimed at execs looking to bolster future software resources.
In short, how good is ChatGTP at chess? A well structured, yet very complex game. Good, but not great, and I feel we will see the same with Code
the hard part was never the coding. it was breaking down a high level problem into a set of technical requirements and figuring out what is needed. the coding is the easy part.
Most of the hard part of coding is adapting to the shifting understanding of the problem, and/or the scaffolding needed to solve expedient parts of the problem while building buy-in and funding to finish the rest.
If you find a way to make any of those parts easier (and “write it for you” has always done the opposite), you’ll trigger Devon’s Paradox, because the cost of being wrong will reduce and so more projects will proceed for longer.
There is so much more to software development than just spitting out code.
I feel like the same people crying wolf about AI/ChatGPT are the same ones who would push the idea of lines of code a day = productivity. I'm sure it will displace some people in tech, no doubt. But maintaining code, coming up with requirements, devops/ci/cd, testing, support, etc are still a very necessary thing whether or not some silly service generated your code for you or not.
I remember when I graduated college my first employer was eager to use a low/no-code tool to produce applications. Everyone there claimed it was the future of "programming" and software development. Drag and drop coding would make it so the business analysts could "write code". How did that turn out?
I am skeptical of those who claim "IT'S OVER!!!" when they do not seem to understand the whole picture of writing software. I'll probably eat crow in 10 years, but for now I will just continue on enjoying "coding". When the day comes that AI replaces my job, I'll learn something else. Writing software has done nothing but helped my ability to learn something quickly.