The role of a software developer is in transition and it’s all due to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). Generative AI models and assistants, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Microsoft’s Copilot, are adept at churning out code almost instantly in any language. This capability means software developers will face retrenchment. The current debate is “how much?” but industry observers generally agree that it’s a good thing. Software developers can incorporate AI such as GitHub Copilot into their projects to reduce tasks and improve productivity. While generative AI tools might replace a lot of the grunt work, they also open opportunities for elevating developers’ roles within their organizations.
The industry is abuzz with the power and productivity that generative AI platforms are bringing to the software development profession. The technology may help overworked and stressed IT professionals abstract the more mundane aspects of their jobs away and help them focus on bigger problems more relevant to their businesses. But a rise in productivity is just the starting point. The increased adoption of generative AI will also mean developers are expected to act in a higher-level role. This will lead to retrenchment, where actual programming roles will diminish, and more business-focused developers will be focused on assembling the capabilities they require for particular applications.
It is highly debatable what kind of retrenchment there will be for developer roles, but many positive impacts are foreseen on developers’ abilities to deliver results far more quickly and expediently for their businesses. For example, using AI for recommendation engines, creating documentation for existing code to help new developers onboard, updating deprecated libraries, and migrating applications from legacy languages. Ultimately, opportunities for developers and other IT professionals will be abundant in “things that can’t be easily copied or taught.”
