Earlier this year, we had a quick look at whether software engineering jobs are at risk due to the rise in no and low coding. We concluded that it’s safe to say everyone’s jobs are still secure because customisation & personalisation remain imperative when it comes to creating an application that reflects the true functionality and quality of the product, service or business. But what about the rise of artificial intelligent coders?
AI coding
When Microsoft showcased their new AI-powered companion in Minecraft, we were amazed by the technology developed. Naturally, our minds started wondering what’s next for AI code generation.
In the Microsoft presentation Chief Technology Officer, Kevin Scott, showed off the new tech’s possibilities and features. This included how the new AI could not only listen but understand commands. The AI companion could understand “come here” and was capable of crafting complex items. This tech being used in the Minecraft demo is the same machine learning technology that is auto-generating software code for Microsoft.
No doubt, it is amazing how far AI and Machine learning has come, and the impact it is having on the technology industry. GitHub Copilot is a good example of this and it has the potential to radically shift the industry, leaving some engineers furious and others ecstatic.
GitHub (a Microsoft tool) describes Copilot as the AI equivalent of pair programming, in which two engineers work together at a single computer. Copilot suggests code while you’re working, serving as an AI co-worker.
Saving time looking up sample code or digging through APIs, Copilot has scraped databases to learn billions of lines of code and then serves suggestions to your code, based on its learnings.
This, however, is where the clouds block out an otherwise sunny situation. As Copilot requires previously written code to learn, many developers have raised concerns that if large enough chunks of code are taken, that many copyrights might be violated, or open-source code might find its way into commercial applications without proper licencing.
Microsoft is obviously not the only company to throw its hat in the code-generating ring. The team at DeepMind, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has created Alpha Code: a tool aimed at automating daily tasks. Alpha Code was recently entered into a coding competition and managed to hold its own, placing in the middle of the field of contenders.
Interesting & innovative, but software engineers are still and will remain in high demand
AI is still taking its baby steps and while we’re observing every new move and ability, we still have a job to do – provide clients with amazing & functional custom web technology development services TODAY and build secure & scalable web applications a client can understand and trust.
For us, Engineers are seen as business solution strategists who look at the bigger picture and offer long-and-short term solutions that anticipate growth, considers the probability of a volatile environment (especially with the rise in cybercrime) and offer new business developments through the projection of a platforms’ capability.
We consider the best UI and UX journey catered to a specific audience’s expectations, based on the specific business product or services.
As long as there is a need for any type of business, organisation, government, or individual to adapt to a new environment or new human behaviours or structures, there will be a need for engineers to develop unique, practical and effective solutions.
Perhaps in the future, we may just have AI assistance to fast-pace the obvious coding and serve as developers’ little helpers, instead of fearing another scenario of robots taking our jobs. They won’t, don’t worry. 😉
Got you excited to create something cool? Reach out and let’s have a cup of coffee.
