New wave of Innovators: why AI won't replace software engineering

There’s a lot of change at the moment, my feed is all about foreign policies, US government cuts, AI writing all code, and now parenting adolescents.

I’ve been experiencing a high level of uncertainty about Europe’s place in the world, mainly what decisions will be made after the US made their policy clear.

Though there’s one area that my uncertainty is decreasing in; that’s AI generated code. It won’t replace software engineers. Mainly as the job market is not a zero sum game.

Platforms like ChatGPT and Claude will create a new industry and roles with that. App Innovator will be a role like Influencer. These Innovators will create ephemeral applications that aren’t designed to be long lived, all reliability and security will come from the platform they are on.

Think YouTube for apps. If you’ve got kids, think of Roblox.

I’ll show my age here and confirm that I don’t get Influencers and the business of Influencing. I’ve spent a decent amount of energy practicing free thought, acknowledging marketing and the emotions it speaks to, interestingly very well summarised by Allen Carr in his book on how to quit smoking.

However, it exists and my kids sort of want to do it. I see their joy in sharing and it gives me pause for thought. They do video editing and make some brilliant and fun videos (including slow motion videos of blowing your lips 😂). The make up and box opening has evident joy but meh, where’s the robot??! 🤓

So as much as I’m disturbed by some people’s view that Software Engineering doesn’t exist anymore (seriously what on earth do you think these systems run on?? Hint: it’s spelt CPU), there’s room for a market where people do create ephemeral applications.

Why would anyone create that…? Maybe I’ll find a decent Influencer to inform me of the benefits…. 😑

#BeingHuman