blog

In the previous post, we examined how the omnipresent hyper-specialization in IT pushes software engineers into areas of human weaknesses and how nerd culture (involuntarily) reinforces the push. We also collected a little list of ideas how we can position ourselves as software engineers, aligned with humans strengths, preserving our value as software engineers in the face of modern AI solutions.

In the previous post, we discussed what humans and AI solutions are (not) good at and have learned the strengths and weaknesses of humans and modern AI solutions basically complement each other. We have also seen that software engineers often do not leverage their human strengths. Instead, they often position themselves in ways that places them in direct competition with the strengths of AI solutions.

In the previous post, we discussed where we came from as an industry, where we currently are and what the job of a software engineer (should) comprise. We also saw that most software engineers only fulfill a small part of what the role actually comprises, leading to direct competition with modern AI solutions that most likely we will not win.

In the previous post, we discussed that detail knowledge, one of the major differentiators in software engineering careers, ceases to be a differentiator due to the growing capabilities of modern AI solutions. Whatever relevant detail knowledge a software engineer can have, these tools also can have. We stopped with the question what is left to software engineers in such a changing landscape, how to preserve one’s value.

At the moment, we see a lot of discussions revolving ChatGPT and other modern AI tools like, e.g., GitHub Copilot. Many managers praise them as the new silver bullet to beat the (often self-made) skills shortage that will make software developers redundant while driving software development efficiency to unprecedented heights.