Barbecue IA: Will AI Really Replace Developers?
Is AI replacing developers, or changing how they work? Jeff reflects on twenty-five years in software and the shift towards design, architecture and human-AI collaboration.
Ideas on the Grill
Episode 2: Will AI Really Replace Developers?
"We do not judge people here. We put ideas on the grill. And sometimes... they come out stronger."
Welcome to Barbecue IA.
Today, an idea goes on the grill.
We do not judge people, only ideas.
For several years now, the same refrain has been heard everywhere.
"Developers are going to disappear. AI will write every program."
You have been developing software for more than twenty-five years...
Do you believe it?
There is one thing I have very little doubt about.
To put it somewhat bluntly...
We will not be churning out lines of code the way we used to.
The profession is changing.
We will no longer simply write code.
We will have to spend more time thinking about design and architecture, and learn to delegate to AI all those small tasks that take up so much time.
So, in your view, AI is not here to replace the developer.
It is more like a digital sous-chef.
Have you already let it cook?
Yes.
At first, I gave it small algorithms to write.
Then, with Louis Planquart, we pushed the experiment much further.
Our goal was to build complete applications with AI assistance.
But with one very simple rule.
Never let AI run on its own.
The developer remains in control.
Experience still allows us to read almost any code, understand what it does and check that it remains coherent.
Has AI ever surprised you?
Has it ever suggested a solution that you had not considered at all?
Surprisingly...
No.
It has never suggested anything that I had not already considered.
On the other hand, it executes what I ask for extremely well.
And that is exactly what is so impressive.
Sometimes, highly complex features become remarkably easy to produce.
In WebDev, for example, some advanced table features require a huge amount of work, or are simply impossible to achieve directly.
AI, however, builds a complete table with features that we now regard as almost universal.
It does not even question whether they should be there.
And has that ease...
ever frightened you a little?
Twenty-five years spent learning a profession...
then suddenly, a machine performs some tasks faster than you can.
Yes.
I have thought about that.
For more than twenty-five years, I typed lines of code to produce results.
And now a computer produces the same thing faster than I can.
Brilliantly.
And on top of that...
it corrects itself.
I have to admit that it is particularly impressive.
In the end...
I think the original question was almost the wrong one.
AI does not appear to be replacing the developer.
It is mainly replacing part of the developer's work.
The profession is not disappearing.
It is moving up a level.
Yesterday, the value lay in the ability to write code quickly.
Today, it lies in the ability to imagine, design, supervise and decide.
The keyboard is still in front of the developer.
But it is used far less for typing and far more for thinking.
What Survived the Grill
AI is not replacing developers.
It is primarily replacing the way they used to develop software.
Your Turn
Every week, an idea goes on the grill.
This time, it is your turn.
What is the first development task you have almost completely stopped doing since you started using AI?
See you next week.
A new idea will go on the grill.