ChatGPT writes code, but does not replace developers.
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ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot that can write code to mimic human speech, will transform app development — and the developer profession — into a different animal, say industry experts.
More than 1 million users have signed up for a free trial preview of ChatGPT since OpenAI released the chatbot on Nov. 30. The bot can write simple websites and applications in programming languages like JavaScript, Python, and React. It can also help find errors in code and create new programming languages.
The model interacts in a conversational way and can admit its mistakes, answer a series of questions, challenge wrong positions and reject inappropriate requests, according to OpenAI.
While he can’t yet write the complex code needed for things like banking applications, ChatGPT will be a competent coder in the next decade, said Rob Zazueta, a freelance technical consultant in Concord, Calif.
The last iteration of GPT was surprisingly good, but this one seems to be leaving it in the dust. It doesn’t take much thinking at this point to see where this is all going.
Rob ZazuetaFree technical consultant
“I have a strange mixture of horror about existence … but also a lot of joy,” he said. “The last iteration of GPT was surprisingly good, but this one seems to be leaving it in the dust. It doesn’t take much to see where this all goes.”
Charlotte Dunlap, an analyst at British market research firm Global Data, echoed Zazuita’s prediction, but believes the results will be too soon.
“Think about how we went from GitHub’s Copilot autocomplete AI-injecting coding method to a conversational format via ChatGPT,” she says. Progress is being made to get there in two to three years.
Abhishek Gupta, founder and principal researcher at the Montreal Eye Ethics Institute, however, says no one knows exactly how those developments will play out. Twelve months ago, no one could have accurately predicted the ubiquity of generative AI systems and the many forms they are taking today. Similarly, it is impossible to predict what will happen in three to 10 years.
“No one has a crystal ball,” Gupta said. “Trying to make a forecast over 18 months – you can only flip a dime.”
Future software engineering careers
One thing that’s in the cards: Developers no longer have to write boilerplate code, Gupta said. Instead, you can focus on areas like complex application architecture or cyber security.
Zazueta agrees, chatgpty is doing a good job writing working code.
ChatGPT found an error in some example code when requested by a user.
“I can take that and adjust it to suit my needs and quickly cut boilerplate material, allowing me to focus on more intensive work that AI isn’t yet ready to handle,” he said.
While ChatGPT can replace some coding tasks, such as writing generic functions or boilerplate code, it won’t completely replace programmers, Zazueta said. That’s because a programmer’s job requires more than just code.
“Being a programmer takes skill — the ability to structure a program, follow logic and generate something that is more than the sum of its parts,” Zazueta said.
Still, ChatGPT could pave the way for new positions. Rapid engineering, for example, will be a sought-after skill in the age of AI, he said.
Fast engineers understand the principles and techniques for writing model inputs to get the best results from chatbots. As such, he should be called a dark artist, said Gupta.
“You have to have the right kind of stimulation that will evoke what you want from it,” he said.
The rise of AI codes like ChatGPT will increase demand for software developers who specialize in data science principles, said GlobalData’s Dunlap. For example, engineers who can design, build, and test applications using data science platforms and languages like Go and Python.
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