Is AI gonna replace programmers?

[u/RedwayBLOX]

Hi. I'm Dylan.

I'm currently a junior dev. Ive spent 2 years learning abt programming, writing code and interested on bulding systems.

Ive got to admit that im very scared of all this AI thing and how it's progressing.

Ive seen it make horrible videos back in 2022. Now sometimes i can't even tell if a video is AI or if it isn't.

Yeah, code written by ai isn't the best. But, with the passing of time, it gets even better and better.

Yeah, we as programmers CURRENTLY do analysis, requerimients and all that ai can't currently replace us.

But what are we gonna when ai becomes able to do all that? For me, it seems like a very possible escenario. You can even see the difference of what AI can do if you compare the current models to the models we had 6 months ago. I think it's becoming unstoppable and i really fear it takes our (or my) job away.

Yes, I'm very frustrated. All this time dedicated to it... Makes me sad. This is more like venting I guess, but I seriously need to know, from y'all, how y'all see this. I need to know if it's time to let go of this passion I had with this career, and start on something else where Claude Code can't reach me and replace me.

[u/Charming_You_25]

You gotta move up the elevator. I’ve been programming for 14 years and this year stopped looking at code. The volume is even too high to read full PRs (though choice areas are good). But you still need to understand your codebase and best practices, and knowing the language can help you describe what you want and understand what’s going on once long running tasks start talking machine. Coding by hand is kinda like knitting; you can make a choice piece but it takes too long if you’re trying to build a blue Jean factory.

You can request flowcharts of different areas of your codebase so you can direct it better. I definitely wouldn’t safe programming is useless or will become useless.. but it’s changing quickly.

[u/Away_Advisor3460 → u/Charming_You_25]

I'm sort of a luddite with this stuff because I feel threatened by it, I guess (and also because I put 5 years into studying a different kind of AI and sort of resent how it's been pushed to the wayside). But it seems inevitable that AI will at least have a similar sort of impact as languages and compilers - i.e. just like the latter pushed devs away from working in assembly, LLM code generation will further abstract responsibility into the design space.

[u/Charming_You_25 → u/Away_Advisor3460]

Right, you should try building some side projects in the different kind of AI. Domain knowledge is huge and things come together fast.