Why is AI not replacing developers?(At least not yet)

I hear panic and smell fear in the air.

AI & robots are coming to replace or maybe kill all of us.

Irene, are you scared?

If yes, this email is for you.

I'm pretty confident that some developers will be replaced, and some will be making even more money and not going to be replaced.

In this article, I will explain how I plan to survive the AI apocalypse and how YOU can be a part of the second group and not be replaced.

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Why is AI not replacing developers?

Checkout this interesting quote:
The 1956 Dartmouth workshop was the moment that AI gained its name, its mission, its first success, and its major players, and is widely considered the birth of AI.

So AI has existed for almost 70 years! Insane!

Of course, 70 years ago it wasn't as advanced as it is right now.

But major companies have been developing it for years.

But they still haven't replaced their developers (who cost quite a lot to maintain) with AI.

And there still were no signs of AI to move in that direction.


Can AI write some code? - YES!

Can AI help to implement things faster? - YES!

Can it replace a developer and do their daily job? - ABSOLUTELY NOT EVEN CLOSE!


So in the next 10-20 years, I see AI as a nice tool that will HELP developers, and not replace them.


But why do a lot of people think that AI will replace developers?

Well, are you sure that a lot of people think so?

While I was preparing for this email, I read dozens of articles with different opinions.

And most of them stated that AI will force developers to change, but won't take their jobs.


Moreover, that's just a normal human psychology.

We are scared of things that we don't understand.

And 99.9% of people don't understand AI.

I would say even more. Most developers, don't understand how AI works as well, and it scares them.


But AI just takes some input data, learns from it, and then connects all the things that it learned when you ask it to do something.

So it has ZERO CREATIVITY!

As a programmer, you have to be quite creative to solve complex problems and tight things together, even though initially it seems like it's impossible to do.


So, let's now cover 3 main skills that you need to develop, not be replaced by AI.


Problem-Solving

AI can write code, but Developers can solve problems.

That's actually why developers are getting paid that much. Because they can solve problems, and bring millions to companies thanks to it.

For example, I work in a Food Delivery company. We've developed the logic that optimizes the box sizes and it helps the company to make an extra $20k every week by sending fewer boxes.

We used three different codebases, and external programs with bad docs to tighten all those things together and make it eventually work properly.

CHAT GPT was released over 1 year ago and it's still not able to solve some simple tasks that I do on my job, so do you think it would have been able to tighten that complex logic? - ABSOLUTELY NOT!

So learn how to solve problems, and not just copy code from tutorials and articles.

And the best way to do it is by creating big personal projects and practicing a lot.

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Communication

If you've ever worked as a developer, you probably know that one of the hardest things is to communicate with a non-technical client.

Most clients that need to create an app, are NON-TECHNICAL.

So they have no understanding of how the software works and what they exactly want and need.

Sometimes it's hard to get a proper answer from ChatGPT on a basic everyday question.

Do you think non-technical people will be able to properly generate complex programs with AI just by writing down what they want?

I highly doubt that.

So learn how to properly understand clients and how to ask the right clarifying questions, and clients will always want to work just with you, as nobody understands them better.

And even if in 20-30 years AI will be able to generate more complex apps, there will still be a need to check it, verify the quality of the code, check for potential security issues, and fix bugs and problems.

So there will be a need for 'Technical Consultants/Verifiers' and it will be REALLY WELL PAID.

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Constant Evolution + What am I doing

Sometimes I absolutely hate how slowly some things are happening.

It takes years for the government to come up with some laws for crypto.

The bigger the company is, the slower it implements new processes and innovations.

And same case will be with the AI, it will be insanely slowed down by countries' laws, intellectual rights, and other 'real-world' things, and at some point, its growth will slow down.

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And it's gonna mean, that YOU WILL HAVE a lot of time to adapt.

If you managed to become a developer it means that: you understand the online business world
you can learn quickly
you are a smart human

People with those qualities will be always in demand, regardless of where AI will go.

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I don't care about AI, or any other changes in the industry, because,

when I see that the industry starts moving in a different direction, I will just learn a couple of new things and be safe.

And you can do THE SAME.

Things are changing over the years, not over days or months.

So the only way to be replaced is to do nothing.

But if you will be paying attention and adapting by learning new skills,

you are SAFE!

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And the coolest thing is that when you already know at least one specialization within IT, it will be really easy to learn something new.

So don't let thoughts like:

'Am I learning the right technology?'

to demotivate you!


You can learn whatever you want (Frontend, Backend, Mobile, etc.), start making money, and get experience with IT now.

And if something in the industry changes, you will have time to learn new stuff and adapt.


Conclusion

I can write 100 more paragraphs on why AI isn't replacing programmers, but they wouldn't fit in this email.

So instead of using an excuse:

"I will not learn programming, because AI will replace it"

Think, who will be replaced faster: a car driver who just follows a short list of rules (and when Tesla can already drive on its own)
a barista (when robots already can make good coffee)
a call center agent (when AI chatbots can already answer customers' questions)
a financial analytic (when AI can already analyze thousands of financial records in seconds)

or a programmer who connects millions of dots and uses creativity to solve problems, while communicating it all with the client.

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So if you want to be a developer, don't let stupid fears stop you.

Learn what's required for the job NOW, and just adjust your knowledge with time, and nobody will ever replace you.

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