AI?
People say you can build software with AI now.
So why do we need more programmers?
Yes and No
AI generators are a powerful tool.
But they are not a replacement for programmers.
Let's see an analogy...
Imagine you are in elementary school and have no idea about math. But you have a calculator.
You need to solve the challenge: there are 123 kids in the group and each one has 456 apples. How many apples in total.
If you do not know math, what are you going to do with your calculator?
You need to know that to get the solution you have to multiply number of kids by number of apples each one has.
So you need to know how multiplication works. You do not have to calculate it manually, you can use the calculator though.
Same with AI
Without understanding programming concepts, you won't be able to effectively use AI tools.
It will be an infinite circle of "fix this error" and "this doesn't work".
With understanding of programming concepts, logic, patterns, dataflow, architecture you can benefit from AI assistant to boost your development speed and increase your efficiency astronomically.
AI is a tool, not a solution
AI can assist you in your programming tasks, but it won't replace the need for understanding the fundamentals.
Just like a dentist needs to know how to use their tools effectively, programmers need to understand the concepts behind the code they write.
It will boost your productivity, if used properly you can build more and faster.
But to start you need to be in command, not in dependency.
Some companies which jumped the gun in replacing humans with AI now are seeking for human help to fix the mess created by the AI
Nobody knows the future
While bloggers and youtubers hype about the end of programmers, the 2025 report from World Economic Forum for the fastest growing jobs.
#4 Software and applications developers
#8 UI and UX designers
But companies lay off devs because of AI?
Companies constantly hire and lay off people, it's part of their lifecycle.
Now it's a good excuse to blame AI.
Maybe they hired too much during the COVID boom and now normalizing their staff size?
Bill Gates on March 26, 2025: "three careers will be safe from AI: biology, energy experts, and programmers"
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
"Overall employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is projected to grow 17 percent from 2023 to 2033, much faster than the average for all occupations." Last updated in April 2025
Looks pretty good, is not it?
So what do we do?
While it's clear that the world is changing it creates even more opportunities. More digital products, more software companies, very likely that more jobs and more demand. Would it be to create new products, support legacy codebase, or gain massive productivity with AI in the end all of that lays on the shoulders of a developer and their skills.
Skills do matter.
Time to upskill?