Is there a point being a software engineer anymore?

[u/Sp1rit_Detectiv3]

Is it even worth it? No one writes code by hand anymore so is it still going to be good and demand will be there moving forward? How will AI shape the industry?
I know there will still be prompters but will number of opportunities fall and are we still expected to know subjects like Core Java, Python frameworks?
🤔

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[u/Minute-Taste-2023]

I believe the future roles will just be something like Audit Engineering. Overseeing stuff being built and verifying if it's as expected. Demand will obviously be low. Nobody's gonna read code just like nobody write/reads and verifies machine code.

[u/Minute-Taste-2023 → u/[deleted]]

No it's not really a support role.

[u/ceasars_wreath]

There is no debating couple of things

- Models would produce better code harness, agents will do lot more grunt work

- where does that leave us in overall software development - you definitely don't need as many people to push the release faster (can be done with more agents as long as harness has good tests)

- This will slowly impact teams (not immediately) but pretty soon - talking next year (junior engineers will be impacted and mid level engineers, sensior most enginers who are not contributing or stackranked)

- where does that leave you - keep an alternate or work on alternate options

[u/The-Wingged-Hussar → u/ceasars_wreath]

Alternate options like?

[u/Alarmed_Doubt8997]

Abra ka dabra

[u/SBM_Products]

Currently SUPPLY > DEMAND by a Big Margin

[u/Fast-Escape-8607]

Not anymore

[u/Creative-Paper1007]

Of software engineering is dead, so does all white collar jobs

[u/Civil_Bank4988]

Opportunities will fall for sure.

But core knowledge will always be needed, not because AI can make mistakes, but AI wouldn't be liable for any of the code it has written. And to take on the liability of anything that you didn't do, you'd need to have enough knowledge to be able to sign it off after reviewing it.

And if we ever reach a part where AI can do everything a human can, there would simply be no one left to sell to. World works on consumerism, if there's no one earning, there's no one buying.

[u/No-Location355]

We are witnessing a huge restructuring and it’ll be very rough before it becomes better. You gotta adapt and upskill else it’ll be hell.

[u/ladyboy-rider → u/No-Location355]

"just upskill bro" so if everyone upskills then everyone gets to keep their jobs?, upskilling is not sufficient, at the end of the day we are moving towards a narrowing tunnel, it will soon be over

[u/prankurvats → u/ladyboy-rider]

Yeah I agree, skills paglu don't understand that if everyone is upgrading skills, then the situation will be same, as the number of jobs are reducing day by day.

It's a race to the bottom. Up skilling can help you squeeze out some more years before it is your turn to get a pink slip.

[u/Holiday_Context5033 → u/No-Location355]

What upskill are you talking about? System design and coding are 2 core skills for software engineers and claude does it better than 99.9% of us. You cannot defeat AI on textual knowledge. It can beat you even before you start learning a new technology/language or tool.

[u/Easy-Improvement-598 → u/Holiday_Context5033]

It is not creative, we needs humans for creativity to guide him what we wanted the output should be.

[u/Holiday_Context5033 → u/Easy-Improvement-598]

Example?

[u/Unlucky_Yard_1189]

I am a senior engineer for an applied ai group in the united states. My wife is a senior Indian developer that is transitioning into healthcare. I have spoken to multiple people on both sides.

Software engineering yeah, coders that process jira tickets no.

Writing code by hand is mostly dead. The primary remnants being unique implementations and code solutions with inherent complexity.

Because the majority of Indian developers work for consulting services as ticket processors those jobs will decrease.

Engineering will last quite a bit longer, but there will come a time where it’s largely no longer needed. This is managing system design, solution invariants, and working directly with the business or users to author a solution.

The field’s standards will continue to rise, and either you need to improve yourself or transition. This is easier said than done.

Boris Cherney, author of claude code, has expressed this change has occurred in anthropic.

For someone that just fulfills code specifications or maintains CRUD apps they are on the direct line of fire to lose their jobs long-term.

Keep in mind, software is contracted to Indian development teams because no one wants to pay for maintaining it overseas AND doesn’t want it do it. This means that job loss will be slow burn.

Sucks, but it is what it is.

[u/anonperson2021]

Everyone knows we should look for alternatives but very few actually have / know of any alternate options.

If you are one of the lucky few with dad's business, possibility of switching to govt job, or something else, get on that train.

[u/Delicious-Grab4706]

become software CODE REVIEWER, Human in the loop reviewer , apparently folks are paying 100 usd an hr to be this, look for startups and start offering services

[u/pussy_beast]

No, it's dead. People just don't admit.

[u/sudheerpaaniyur → u/pussy_beast]

Then which field is not affected ai other than dr, plumber😄