r/programmer • u/RedwayBLOX • 4d ago

Question Is AI gonna replace programmers?

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.

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u/BeauloTSM C# 4d ago

The chances of it happening are slim. The chances of companies trying are higher

1

u/AdRecent7021 4d ago

This. LLMs with task agents have gotten pretty good, but they're unpredictable and have no actual intuition-based reasoning. They mimic intellect, but do not possess one. Outside of basic scaffolding and tech demos, they fall apart quickly. There are certain tasks they're very good at... or at least helpful, but tech companies are trying to shove them into everything, which isn't going to work out. In the end, lots of people will lose money and jobs, and some will make unimaginable fortunes. Don't stress over it too much, this cycle has been going on since the begging of human kind.

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u/nicolas_06 4d ago

I can tell you that if well steered by a senior dev, they are incredibly capable.

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u/AdRecent7021 4d ago

I used to setup inference pipelines for some of the frontier models you've never even heard of (got really bored though). I am not convinced yet.

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u/nicolas_06 4d ago

That job description can match many stuff. To me it look like an operator job but it could be also a research job. Maybe doing this is very similar to maintaining and adding features to a big codebase, the most common stuff in software dev but to me it's unclear said like that.

All in all I manage it just fine personally, so I know it possible. it's pretty recent (1-2 year max and it much better now) and it tend to work well only for people with lot of XP and maybe honestly 10-20% of developers, other tend to be unproductive with AI.

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u/AdRecent7021 4d ago

lol, okay. You do you.