Is AI coming for developers jobs?

Introduction

As AI technology continues to improve, a common concern arises regarding the future of software development: will automation put developers' jobs at risk? Intuitively, one might think that automating a job is the first step towards making it obsolete. However, history shows a different trend.

Consider the introduction of the first spreadsheet program, VisiCalc. When it was launched, accountants were worried that automation would render their jobs redundant. Contrary to these fears, the automation of routine calculations allowed accountants to focus on higher-value work, like analysis and strategic planning. This shift enabled more sophisticated business planning, and those who embraced the new technology became even more valuable and sought-after.

This phenomenon is not just limited to accounting. When routine tasks are automated, professionals can focus on more complex, creative, and high-level challenges.

So why aren't there travel agents anymore? The key difference here lies in the complexity and creativity of the job. In fields like software engineering, the work is inherently complex, creative, constantly evolving, and highly unstandardized. Unlike repetitive and standardized tasks seen in other industries, software engineering always offers a new level of complexity and creativity for automation to augment but not replace.

No matter how much automation improves, there will always be new, more intricate, and more creative problems to solve in software engineering.