In recent years, artificial intelligence has been replacing people in many professions. The impact of AI on jobs can be noticed in many sectors, including the IT sector. IT companies are rapidly adopting AI tools for coding, developing and even testing different kinds of software. So, based on the current scenario, can AI be considered a threat to software engineering jobs? Or is it making a huge difference just because IT job aspirants aren’t spending much time and effort in skill development?
The technical capabilities of artificial intelligence can never be doubted. AI has limitless growth potential when it is used as a tool in the software industry. Whether it is the implementation of algorithms in coding, processing of commands or software testing, AI fares better than humans in many skills. One of the best examples is a software platform called GitHub Copilot which was developed by OpenAI. Any techie can use OpenAI’s Codex AI model to complete multiple programming tasks in a very short time. Just imagine the amount of output generated by GitHub Copilot if used by an IT company on a large scale. If the platform is very successful and helps save both time and money, then any software company will be tempted to reduce the strength of its workforce. That’s how AI is influencing the job market in the IT industry.
Artificial intelligence has surely taken away thousands of software engineering jobs in the past few years. But, it is safe to say that AI tools still don’t have the potential to completely replace humans. Though AI can write code within seconds, it still lacks human qualities like critical thinking and collaboration skills. AI tools don’t understand the objectives or the mission of any IT company and this is an area which certainly requires the knowledge and experience of skilled software engineers. Also, AI models produce code depending on the datasets provided to them and so, this is just another limitation of artificial intelligence.
Software engineers should not regard AI as a threat. Instead, they should get motivated to build their expertise in areas like Machine Learning and Data Science. Options to learn new programming languages that are in demand are available. Moreover, aspirants can also aim to get recruited by companies that actively hire software engineers with expertise in developing and testing AI tools and mobile applications.
AI is creating a revolution in the software industry. Most of the tech giants and medium-sized software enterprises today are using AI tools in several ways to boost productivity. Nevertheless, software job aspirants should never feel disappointed. The IT sector offers an ocean of job opportunities if job seekers constantly learn new skills from time to time.
AI can't perform every job which a company demands. There are always some IT jobs which require a human touch to be accomplished. Software engineers can also learn to use different AI tools and utilize them to produce the best outputs.
The mindset should change because it is high time to realize that the future of technology requires software engineers to frequently keep upskilling and collaborating with AI to produce the best results.