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Will ChatGPT Replace Programmers in Future?

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Hitakshi

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According to 2021 estimates from Mckinsey Global Institute, about 45 million US workers might be replaced by automation by 2030 amid the advance of AI. Recently, AI tools such as ChatGPT have received massive recognition from across the world.

Its ability to generate codes, solve complex queries, build websites, generate human-like responses, and more has resulted in mass usage of ChatGPT in a variety of fields.

This has also resulted in users and employees wondering whether ChatGPT could replace programmers. 

Well, the answer is no, ChatGPT will not replace programmers entirely, as the AI chatbot is capable of performing a wide range of tasks, but is still unable to perform essential skills such as critical thinking, complicated reasoning, problem-solving capability, and more which are crucial while generating a software application. 

Will ChatGPT Replace Programmers

Is ChatGPT replacing programmers?


No, ChatGPT is not replacing programmers. Artificial intelligence software, ChatGPT, is developed to provide replies to users’ input in natural language. ChatGPT can speed up and improve the text quality generated by programmers but can’t replace them.

Conversational bots can’t perform skills such as complicated reasoning, problem-solving capabilities, and creativity which are crucial for programming and can only be performed by human programmers. 

ChatGPT learns to perform various tasks using a wide range of code and data, which can be helpful in creating new codes which are similar to existing codes.

But designing and developing complex software applications requires human creativity, critical thinking, and more which is limited to human programmers. Therefore, ChatGPT is unlikely to replace programmers. 

Is ChatGPT a threat to software engineers?


OpenAI’s ChatGPT is an excellent chatbot that can perform a variety of tasks such as coding, answering complex queries, writing content, and more while saving a large amount of time for its users.

However, ChatGPT is not a threat to software engineers and cannot replace their job.  AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT can automate various tasks and processes but it can’t entirely replace software engineers.

Chatbots are designed for natural language processing and creating text-based responses for user input which can be useful for customer service, text-based interactions, information retrieval, and more. 

Software engineers on the other hand are responsible for developing, designing, and maintaining complex software applications and systems.

This requires a massive range of skills and expertise which is beyond natural language processing therefore it can’t be processed through an AI chatbot and would require a software engineer.

Apart from this software engineers also play a huge part in other crucial areas of software applications and systems such as critical thinking, problem-solving capability, and creative designs which are beyond AI chatbot capabilities. 

According to Saurabh Bagchi, professor of Electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University stated, ChatGPT can put together a piece of code, but they can’t trace it back for attribution to check whether it comes from a licensed software package or not, which might present intellectual property concerns for those users who are using it to current form for software development.

Are ChatGPT and Alphacode going to replace programmers?


ChatGPT and Alphacode are unlikely to replace programmers. DeepMind has published results showcasing the capabilities of Alphacode, a deep-learning model coding platform.

Science1 had published results showcasing that Alphacode was capable of achieving human-level performance in the Codeforces platform and the code competition, AlphaCode was able to beat about half of the humans. 

In addition, Social media users have also been struck by the capabilities of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and how it can produce meaningful essays including short computer programs. But at times it can also generate a few ridiculous mini-essays upon request.

Although these state-of-art AIs are only capable of performing limited tasks, and according to researchers AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Alphacode are far from being able to replace human programmers. 

Is ChatGPT replacing software engineers?


No, ChatGPT is not replacing software engineers any time soon. ChatGPT can generate codes when performing programming activities, however, companies still require Software engineers to further work and use the code.

Since only programmers with good knowledge of codes can handle the codes generated by ChatGPT.

Apart from this, ChatGPT has occasionally provided inaccurate responses and has generated flawed codes. Therefore, companies need a double-check by a software engineer to check the code generated by ChatGPT and ensure there are no flaws or errors in the code generated. 

ChatGPT currently has issues in debugging problematic code, even in standalone, straightforward code blocks. To use ChatGPT for creating an application, users need to provide a strong prompt which is essential for both technical expertise and prompt engineering skill, which requires software engineers to create these prompts.

Can AI Tools Like ChatGPT Replace Computer Programmers?


No, AI tools like ChatGPT are unlikely to replace computer programmers. The major reason why the chances of AI tools replacing programmers are low is due to ChatGPT and other AI tools’ capability of only performing limited tasks. 

ChatGPT is a great AI chatbot, which can perform a wide range of tasks such as the generation of codes, texts, human-like responses, and more.

But it can’t replace the critical thinking, creativity, and skill level offered by programmers but instead, it can only speed up the programming tasks, and allow programmers to focus on higher-level tasks. 

Why Chat GPT will NOT replace Programmers?


ChatGPT is an AI chatbot, which has the potential to automate some aspects of programming such as the generation of code, bug fixing, documentation, and various time-consuming tasks.

Which can help save time for programmers to focus on higher-level tasks. ChatGPT can learn tasks using a wide range of code and data, which can help the AI chatbot to create new codes which are similar to the pre-existing codes. 

Despite ChatGPT automating a few aspects of programming it cannot entirely replace human programmers due to the skill level, human creativity, and critical thinking offered by human programmers for designing and developing complex software applications.

Such skills and creativity can’t be taught to AI chatbots like ChatGPT, due to which ChatGPT will not replace Programmers. 

What Programming Jobs Will Generative AI Replace?


Here is a list of potential programming jobs that could be replaced by Generative AI: 

  1. Code Generation: Generative AI models, like GPT-3 and potentially more advanced successors, have already demonstrated the ability to generate code snippets. They can be used to auto-complete code, generate boilerplate, and even write simple programs based on a given specification. As these systems become more capable, they could automate parts of the work currently done by junior developers or those working on repetitive or straightforward programming tasks.

  2. Code Review and Debugging: AI systems can be trained to spot common errors in code, identify security vulnerabilities, and suggest improvements. This could automate some of the work currently done by developers and QA engineers during code review and debugging.

  3. Testing: AI could automate some parts of software testing, particularly tasks that involve writing test cases and doing repetitive testing.

  4. Maintenance and Updates: A lot of developer time is spent on maintaining existing code and updating it to work with new systems or standards. AI could potentially automate parts of this work, particularly for routine updates and maintenance tasks.

  5. Documentation: AI could potentially generate or update documentation based on changes in the code, reducing the amount of time developers spend on this task.

  6. Data Entry Clerks: Generative AI and other forms of automation have the potential to significantly impact the role of data entry clerks. Many simple data entry tasks can be automated with existing technology. For example, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can be used to read printed or handwritten documents and convert them into digital data. Similarly, automated form-filling tools can input data into a system without human intervention.

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