The AI Revolution: How Programmers Must Evolve to Stay Relevant.

INTRODUCTION

AI AI AI! This has been the hottest and most fascinating topic for all the techies out there. Gen AI has become the latest big thing to watch out for! It has revolutionized the way people operate and do day-to-day tasks. As technology and AI evolve, we must also advance and adapt to stay ahead in the race. This blog particularly examines how programmers/coders have to change their way of operating to incorporate Gen AI and stay relevant.

Frankly speaking, I am not tech-savvy at all. I have had some experience with basic Python programming because it was a mandatory course, but I have never made any effort to learn more about it. However, when I look at my peers not only in my college but almost everywhere, everyone seems obsessed with coding. It seems they believe that mastering programming guarantees a job. They seem to think that learning to code is the only available path. In this article, I will share my strong opinions on why programming might become obsolete in the future. I may be wrong, so feel free to drop your perspective below.

Embracing AI: The Future of Programming

I think the Gen AI we are using now is nothing compared to what will come in the future. Even today, AI can generate code in various languages with considerable accuracy. Simple programming tasks can easily be replaced by AI tools. For example, consider a situation where I need to generate a simple FOR loop in Python. Rather than knowing how to write the loop, it's more important to understand what it does and the logic behind it. Once I understand the logic, I can easily generate the loop using ChatGPT or other available AI tools. Do you get what I’m trying to convey? Programmers who understand the logic can be far more efficient than anyone else.

My goal was to create a website where I could easily publish my blogs. So, rather than building the website from scratch, I thought it would be easier and faster to let AI do the hard work while I focus on other things like content and SEO. Why not automate tasks that AI can perform really well?

Redefining Education for Future Programmers

It is essential that colleges and courses specifically teach programmers how to use AI. In the future, this will be a mandatory skill that a coder must have. Employers might seek such specific skills and give preference to people who know how to use AI to their advantage. Programmers should explore different AI tools.

Consider a startup that needs to build a website. The founders might have a vision for their website but don't know how to create it. If I were in their place and on a budget, I would rather buy a $20 ChatGPT subscription to build my site than hire a web developer. Such situations could significantly affect the job market and freelancers. There could be situations where companies hire only five programmers instead of ten because most tasks can be automated. These five people would be chosen for their efficiency.

The Integration of AI in Programming

Specialization in AI Tools: A New Era

There could also be a specialization in particular AI tools. People can specialize in different tools, creating roles that never existed before. For example, a ChatGPT expert or Gemini expert, and companies could hire and build teams based on these skills. Imagine an IT team of five people, each specializing in different AI tools, collaborating to reach a particular goal. Imagine them combining their responses to achieve a final goal. Sounds exciting, right?

Practical AI Education Over Theoretical Knowledge

There are several AI courses in my college, but instead of teaching how to use them (prompt engineering), they focus more on how LLMs or SLMs work. This is somewhat useless, especially if you just want to use these tools rather than build them. For example, courses should be designed so that a task is given to you, such as building a website, and you should be able to complete it using only AI tools rather than programming the website yourself. This would help you see how efficient you can become. If not through courses, programmers must take it upon themselves to learn about different tools because you always learn more by experimenting.

Vision Over Skill: The Key to Success

I strongly believe that it's the vision, not the skill, that makes you successful. Visionaries often have more value than those who can execute their ideas. Once you have a vision, plenty of tools can execute it for you. What I am trying to say is that execution will never be the problem; the idea is of utmost importance.

CONCLUSION

Rather than looking at AI as a curse, look on its bright side. Figure out how it could make your life easier. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that programming is a dead end, but a change of approach is of utmost importance. In the end, I think that the AI Revolution is happening fast and programmers need to adapt even faster.