Human developers are still needed
AI is revolutionizing software development. It can do many tasks better and faster than human developers, and it’s getting better at an exponential rate.
So why is it a mistake to think companies no longer need human developers?
No matter how good AI gets, there will always be some fundamental AI shortcomings:
Vision and Strategy: AI can implement ideas, but it can’t conceive them. Essentially, it’s a fancy calculator, but there still needs to be someone pushing the buttons, deciding what to build, and telling the AI to build it. Without a human developer to envision solutions to business challenges and create a plan to build them, your company’s vision and strategy will stagnate.
Scalability: While AI can easily write isolated algorithms or build simple apps, it struggles to create robust, production-ready solutions for the real world, integrated with various systems and meeting requirements of diverse stakeholders. Without a developer to handle complexity, your company won’t be able to scale technical solutions beyond basic prototypes and proofs of concept.
Innovation: AI is good at copying what’s been done before. But if it hasn’t seen something before, it struggles to develop novel solutions. According to industry research, 41% of development time involves solving novel problems. Without human developers who can create something new, companies will be stuck in the past, relying on regurgitated and repetitive AI code.
Attention to Detail: You’re probably familiar with AI artifacts when it comes to images: strange fingers, impossible physics, and other nonsensical elements. Or artifacts in AI writing: unnecessarily flowery language, excessive emojis, and the now-infamous em dash (—) that make it obvious that you’re reading AI junk. These kinds of artifacts exist in AI-generated code too. One study found that AI code requires 2.3x more review time than human code due to subtle logical errors. And if you don’t have an experienced developer to be able to spot and correct them, you’ll end up with problems in mission-critical applications and systems.
Hidden costs: On the surface, access to an AI model seems far cheaper than hiring a human developer. But if you look beyond the cost per line of code and consider the cost to actually solve business problems, AI often ends up being more expensive. One financial services firm reported spending $220,000 auditing and correcting AI-generated code (40% more than developing it without AI!) I’m not an AI doomer; AI is a revolutionary tool. But while AI’s ability to do specific tasks is impressive and getting better all the time, without an experienced developer guiding the tool, it will destroy the value of your business and leave your company with mountains of technical debt, costly errors, and lackluster solutions.