Ever since companies began integrating the latest generation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their tech stacks, tech professionals everywhere have debated whether this technology puts their respective jobs at risk, especially those who build software.
According to the latest Stack Overflow Developer Survey, nearly 70 percent of developers actually don’t see AI tools as a threat to their current position. That’s good news! (This data is generated from 36,328 responses.)
But it’s also worth exploring what tech professionals view as the downsides of artificial intelligence in the context of their daily workflows. Fortunately, Stack Overflow asked its developer audience about that, as well. Here’s the breakdown:
Tech professionals seem to have trust issues about AI’s output, which makes sense: after a lifetime of doing your own coding, you might have reservations about generative AI’s ability to produce elegant code, especially if you’ve seen it spit out garbage in response to a prompt.
Generative AI’s inability to effectively gauge context is another concern. As these tools improve, and companies find new, safe ways to import proprietary data into their datasets, these concerns about a lack of context and company knowledge could fade away; but in the interim, it’s still up to human developers and engineers to effectively determine whether the output of generative AI syncs with their current project.
As more companies consider how to integrate artificial intelligence, it’s worth polishing your skills so you can use these tools in a safe and effective way. For example, mastering data fluency and critical thinking are musts; focusing on the creative side of your job is important, too. In theory, AI will free up more time for tech professionals to concentrate on the more innovative aspects of their positions, such as ideating new features.
