Will AI Replace Developers?

Every few weeks, I see another headline screaming that AI is going to make all programmers obsolete by next Tuesday. It’s a scary thought, especially with how capable these AI tools have become. But after a year of using GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and a host of other assistants, I have a more nuanced take.

---

What AI is Good At (And Why I Love It)

AI excels at automating the tedious, repetitive parts of our job. Need a simple utility function? It’s a no-brainer.

// AI nailed this in 2 seconds
function calculateTax(amount, rate) {
  return amount * (rate / 100);
}

It’s also fantastic at generating boilerplate code, explaining foreign concepts, and catching the most obvious bugs. I won’t lie—AI has saved me countless hours of writing the same CRUD operations over and over again. It’s like having a hyper-efficient intern who never sleeps.

---

What AI Still Can’t Do (And Why We Still Matter)

But here’s the crucial part. Last week, I was stuck on a complex bug involving asynchronous calls in a web app. The AI’s genius solution? “Just add a random setTimeout to wait for the data.”

This highlights AI’s fundamental limitation: it doesn’t truly understand the problem. It doesn’t grasp:

• The “why” behind the code. Why does the order of requests and responses matter?
• The impact of the code on the user. What will a random timeout do to the user experience?
• The context of the codebase. How will this quick fix affect performance and maintainability down the line?
• The human element. How does this fit into our team’s established architecture and design patterns?

// AI might suggest this quick fix
setTimeout(() => {
    // retry or continue
}, 100);

// But you, the human, know the real fix involves properly handling promises and async/await
async function fetchData() {
    await someAsyncOperation();
    // Safely update state or DOM here, knowing the data is ready
}

---

The Human Side of Programming

Programming isn’t just about writing code. It’s about a series of deeply human activities:

• Understanding the Problem: Translating a vague business idea from a client into a concrete, solvable technical problem. AI can’t attend meetings and ask clarifying questions.
• System Design & Architecture: Deciding how a complex system should be structured. Should we use microservices or a monolith? Which database is best for our specific use case? These are trade-offs only a human can reason through.
• Collaboration & Communication: Working with designers, product managers, and other developers. Explaining technical debt to a stakeholder or mentoring a junior team member.
• Creative Problem-Solving: Coming up with novel solutions to challenges that have never been solved before. AI is great at pattern-matching, but it can’t invent.

---

What I Think Will Actually Happen

I believe the role of a developer won’t be eliminated—it will evolve. AI won’t replace us; it will raise the bar for what it means to be a programmer.

Less time on:

• Writing repetitive boilerplate code
• Looking up syntax and remembering function names
• Basic debugging and refactoring

More time on:

• High-level system design and architecture
• Deeply understanding and refining business requirements
• Code review, quality assurance, and security
• Mentoring and leading teams

Think of it this way: the invention of the calculator didn’t get rid of mathematicians. It simply freed them from tedious calculations so they could focus on higher-level, more complex problems. AI is doing the same for us.

---

My Strategy for Adapting

I’ve learned to treat AI as an assistant, not a replacement. I see it as an incredibly enthusiastic, but often naive, junior developer.

# I let AI write the first draft
copilot generate component UserProfile

# But I'm the one who decides if it fits our architecture
# and meets our performance and accessibility standards

I’m the senior developer in this partnership. I give the instructions, I review the code, and I take responsibility for the final product.

The Bottom Line

Will some coding jobs disappear? Yes. The ones that are mostly about rote, low-level tasks will likely be automated away.

But will we need fewer developers overall? I highly doubt it. We’ve been predicting the end of programming jobs since the invention of compilers, yet we have more software being written today than ever before. The need for smart, creative problem-solvers who can build and maintain complex systems will only continue to grow.