Computer Programmers

Marshmello (Low) says

We just made AI, no way we would be conquered ( unless the AI watched the Terminator, or the Age of Ultron and became corrupt.)

Thiago says

Wouldn't it be too much if robots even stole our jobs as programmers? Then who would program other robots? Who would maintain them?

BibirMengkeroet (Uncertain) says

Programmer who skilled in all fields wouldn't get replaced by AI (YET). However, web developers have higher risk to be replaced than software developers, because the dataset required to train the AI is very abundant. In fact, you can scrap like 1000 random webpage and use it's source code (Since HTML, CSS, and Javascript is interpreted).

If AI 100% replace programmers, it safe to say, welcome to singularity

Some Bot (Low) says

Basic coding may be something computers can do in the near future but computers cannot yet collect requirements, collaborate with stakeholders, and design software in any significant way yet and I don't see them being able to do so for quite some time.

Abdelrahman Hossam (Uncertain) says

When a job disappears, a new type of need is created and a new job is required, so I think the number of jobs will increase.

Tecc9- (Moderate) says

I think that in the future, we will have government organizations that will balance job opportunities between AI and humans. It feels like a refugee crisis, with people getting insecure about their jobs. However, nothing will likely change.

Personally, I think the AI will not take a slice of the cake. Perhaps the cake is getting bigger, and we will hopefully discover new jobs.

DogeConomy (Uncertain) says

Artificial Intelligence, such as OpenAI, is in development and has been proven successful at writing lines of code that are compilable with the correct syntax.

However, the original creators of AI are human and will stay that way unless they end up becoming sentient, able to exert control, interpret, and make edits to their own underlying code.

Jared M (No chance) says

People who need custom software but aren't software engineers don't have the language required to create specific solutions for a problem at hand.

If there isn't a computer programmer there to create the instructions for a tool that solves a certain problem, you are limited by your ability to describe the software you need.

At some point, you will need someone who can turn your wants and needs into a set of instructions, especially when you only have a vague idea of what you want it to do.

Scion says

I sensed the risk of automation for the role was high, but I didn't figure it'd be that high.

With low-code tools gaining adoption, it's just a matter of time for the tools to morph into total code tools.

This makes the above results believable.

Brody Pinto (Low) says

I doubt writing Computer programs that require the awareness of how people use their devices and the design that comes with all of that will be automated within the next 2 decades but I do believe it will happen eventually.

OldHasBeenGuy says

20 years of dev experience with 6 in AI/ML, has opinion: coding is a field that by its nature keeps incorporating more automation. There is a library for everything. So what if there are NLP algorithms to help write code? Low code platforms have been around for a while. Coding as a skill never goes away but about every 5 years specific coding practices change as parts of them get automated away.

Around 85% of AI/ML projects fail. That is a track record that says predictive algorithms will probably not have as massive an effect in the short term as people think. However in the long term predictive algorithms will revolutionize software development, enabling coders to get more done with less.

Experienced devs tend to code less as their career advances. They do management or architecture/design more so than straight coding. This is needed because the ability to make informed decisions about technical matters is critical in modern industry. In a more automated world, there will be more designers and PMs than developers.

In summary: Software developers already are getting automated away with a shelf life of 5 years, with or without AI. The need for those who can make decisions in regards to code is not easily replaced by any AI but it can be supplemented by decision support systems.

iRobot says

It's already happening with GitHub Copilot. To some extent, GitHub Copilot can guess what code you want to write and make suggestions for you. Then, all you have to do is press Tab in Visual Studio Code, and the suggestion will be automatically completed.

A coder from Google (No chance) says

Self-programming code had been a thing since the beginning of time but it's never been done. We can't even achieve human-level general AI at the moment, an AI capable of creating new code as new bugs / issues / needs arise is virtually impossible

Blake Senftner (No chance) says

Software engineering requires comprehension, and there is no such thing as artificial comprehension. Yes, you read that right: artificial intelligence does not include artificial comprehension.

AI is an idiot savant that can do, but does not know how or why. It also does not know when given nonsense - it provides an answer anyway. With zero comprehension, it was given junk, and the answer it produced is similar nonsense junk.

Writing software is 1000% comprehension intensive. Sure, trivial software can be glommed together by AI. But software requiring comprehension of concepts and the operation of virtual logical entities for an assessment of integration compatibility (can A & B combine to produce C?) is outside of AI's capabilities.

PeopleHereAreReallyDumb says

Programming is a creative process that requires innately human thinking to process requirements. When a client says they want (let's say) a video player, they don't want the VLC executable, they want something new. And that's the problem, the AI won't be able to make something new every time. Also if programmers are not hired anymore and the AI writes all the code, what's stopping it from putting in a virus or randomly writing code that deletes random files from the computer under certain conditions, who is gonna monitor the AI code, can we really trust something that's been trained on so much random data?

Chris (Low) says

Writing the code is only part of the job. Understanding the requirements or finding them together with the customer is at least half the work.

- (Highly likely) says

Look at DeepMind's AlphaCode

mariano (No chance) says

Because you need to have perception, understand problems and think about possible solutions.

mauro (Low) says

even the users dont know what they want or the requirements changes from one day to another, i dont think it can be fully automated

Nise (Moderate) says

Currently, we already have tools such as OpenAI's CODEX, capable of offering very interesting results in programming. This can have a practical application in real projects. The main barrier for an AI to be a high-level programmer is the number of factors that it must understand. These include user experience, the needs of the industry, the number of technologies at its disposal, etc. However, there is no proof of this. While this barrier is unbreakable for machines, I believe that at some point in the next 20 years, we will see AI capable of completely replacing almost any developer with less than ten years of experience.