AI is capable of writing code, but is it any good? Apparently, it is and I should be concerned about being put out of business (if not now, then soon). However, I don't know of any applications or services (online or otherwise) that offer this. Apparently, OpenAI is a contender, but it's still in beta at the time of writing.
This is according to Motherboard/Vice (and those hyping the blighted thing that is ChatGPT), which claims future code will likely be written in natural language (most likely English). Quite understandably, I don't like the look of that, since it doesn't bode well for me. However, I also know that writing code is one thing that is fairly easy to do, but writing correct code that does what it's supposed to (and correcting/fine-tuning it) is another matter entirely. Folks like Robert "Uncle Bob" Martin and Kent Beck have written entire books about it, the subtle art of software development (and not solely to inflate their bank balances). Whether AI can manage the second aspect/part, I don't know. I certainly hope not, if I am to have any hope of again finding employment. At least, if it can do the latter (and better than I can), then I would like to get in on writing the algorithm(s) that do that, potentially freeing up my time for possibly more gratifying things while still earning me a living.
As Motherboard correctly points out, coding wasn't always a purely language-based activity. Way back in the mists of time, it was a case of toggling switches and punching cards in a highly error-prone and time-consuming manner. Then, at some point, along came machine language, followed by assembly and low-/mid-level languages like C in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Fast forward a few decades and we end up with languages like Python and Nim, which are pretty close to English (and apparently Japanese, if you program in Ruby). It is not surprising, then, that programming languages of the future are likely to be more like natural languages than they currently are.
Being able to not just write code, but debug and correct it, has become a highly-sought after skill that brings with it large paychecks (so much so that software and Web developers, in our collective arrogance, have told those seeking employment "learn to code", when the advice should have been "learn to develop software", because it's a complex and multi-disciplinary pursuit of which writing code is only a tiny part that any code monkey/script-kiddy can do, if the world's proliferation of horribly-written PHP code is any indication).
Code Monkey, by Chet Phillips. If I wasn't pressed for time and feeling the pinch, I'd include the Code Monkey song.
With the advent of AI systems with large resources (including NLP), it is entirely possible that AI will become increasingly proficient at writing code and creating significant impediments to old-school dinosaurs like me finding work again. I'd best hurry up and find some while I still can, since time is clearly not on my side (although I doubt it ever was, really). No doubt, employers will look to AI as a means to justify laying off human workers and paying us less in order to maximise profits. Perhaps, now more than ever, it's to my benefit to diversify and learn other skills (such as getting paid to write articles, for example).
"At some point — probably not in the near future — the word ‘coding’ will disappear from our lexicon because programming will stop requiring code and instead be about the pure act of solving problems using computers making it accessible to more and more people.
We're only scratching the surface of what's possible in this new technology. I think ChatGPT brings it to another level. We're now at the start of another big jump in developer productivity. I think it's going to be anywhere between 10x to 100x improvement in productivity."
— Amjad Masad, CEO of Repl.it
Despite what it's proponents claim, lowcode and "no-code" is, in my professional opinion, a toy for people who don't actually know how to code and want to pretend they do, like the kid that gets participation trophies so it can feel special, despite a lack of ability/talent and training. At some point, when the wheels fall off (and they will) or the client wants changes and is breathing down your neck, you're going to need to know how to write at least some code (or know a professional who does, like me). I'm just saying ... You don't always have the right tool in your toolbox, or the right block of code at your disposal. There will come a point where you'll have to make it yourself while you're under the gun. Will AI or no-code be able to help you then? I'm doubtful that it will. I certainly hope not, for my sake and that of experienced developers whom learned to do things the hard way because that was the only way we had and are likely better for it.
Maybe I'm a scared old man whom feels threatened and I just want the new kids to stay off my lawn, but perhaps I have a point and still have some usefulness yet ... Whatever the case may be, a world in which AI has replaced me and made me obsolete is not a world I want to face any time soon, although I might very well have to.
Right, back to finding work while I still have a chance, then ...
Thumbnail image: Code Monkey by Chet Phillips on Chetart
