On AI and the Future of Software Development

AI is jumping into many spheres once reserved only for human thought. Chess, then Go, and now even writing software! It feels like it will change everything. But it will be less radical than we suppose. I would point to another profession to explain what the future may hold.

Consider the Carpenter. Once a profession of hardy craftsmen! They used hand-plane and hand-saw to create wooden buildings, tools, and furniture. Now they are a profession of hardy craftsmen. They use electric-planer, and circular saws to … you get the point.

Electrification and even mass production changed the nature of carpentry. But carpenters still exist! Many ‘modern’ structures still rely on the work of carpenters. Armed with electric tools, today’s carpenters are more productive. So too, will AI-augmented software development be. Someone will still need to ‘speak’ the computer’s language. Though it will be closer to English. Someone must still think through the solutions in a way that the computer can enact. The nature of the work will change. But Software Development, like Carpentry, will continue.