The narrative of technological disruption frequently pits new innovations against their predecessors, promising complete replacement. The internet was meant to obliterate print media, Netflix would vanquish cable television, and Amazon intended to topple traditional retail giants. While these narratives help us grasp novel concepts, they often oversimplify the complex ways technologies interact and evolve.

Artificial intelligence (AI), with its rapidly maturing capabilities, is the latest disruptive force. Yet, within software engineering, AI is more likely to act as a transformative catalyst rather than a force of pure elimination. By automating tedious and repetitive coding tasks like implementing basic filters, AI stands to liberate developers, allowing them to focus on the higher-order, creative aspects of designing and building innovative products.

Experts on AI's Impact

This view aligns with the opinions of prominent figures in both economics and computer science. Economist Erik Brynjolfsson argues that AI and technological progress "can deliver more goods and services to more people at lower cost." ([1] Brynjolfsson, Erik, and Andrew McAfee. The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies. WW Norton & Company, 2014.) This productivity boost translates into new ways to deliver quality software more efficiently.

Computer scientist Andrew Ng, a pioneer in artificial intelligence, emphasizes the value AI provides in automating tasks that are "tedious for humans" ([2] Financial Times, "Andrew Ng: Why AI Is the New Electricity", 2021, www.ft.com.), freeing up developers to explore more engaging and fulfilling aspects of their work.

The Evolving Role of the Software Engineer

Rather than eliminating human coders, AI is likely to reshape their work. Software engineers may produce exponentially more lines of code, spending a greater portion of their time refining the output of AI systems and guiding these systems towards greater sophistication and nuance. This shift towards guidance and orchestration, rather than line-by-line execution, will elevate the software engineering field.

In a way, human engineers may begin to resemble hands-on product managers. While maintaining a deep understanding of the overall system, they'll increasingly delegate lower-level tasks to AI, focusing on the strategic vision and high-level problem-solving that machines are still developing.

A History of Transformation

History supports this view of transformative evolution alongside elements of displacement. Take the advent of the automobile as an example. The automobile didn't fully replace horse-drawn transportation but fundamentally transformed how people and goods moved. Similarly, AI won't render human programmers obsolete but instead alter how they approach their craft. Increased productivity, new specializations, and a greater focus on innovation are all likely outcomes.

The Power of Collaboration

The future of software engineering lies in the collaboration between human minds and AI systems. By combining the context-awareness, intuition, and creative problem-solving of humans with the raw computational power and pattern recognition of AI, the software development process has the potential to become more efficient, more imaginative, and more accessible to a wider range of innovators.

References

1. Brynjolfsson, Erik, and Andrew McAfee. The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies. WW Norton & Company, 2014.

2. Financial Times, "Andrew Ng: Why AI Is the New Electricity", 2021, https://www.ft.com/content/2dc07f9e-d2a9-4d98-b746-b051f9352be3