AI Tools Can Help You Write Code, but Not Everyone Thinks They're Useful

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) could soon mean that you won’t have to struggle to learn how to write programming code. 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said recently that AI would allow anyone to program by speaking to the computer. Experts agree that there’s an AI revolution brewing in programming, but some say the art of human programming will change, not disappear. 

"AI will help people that are generally interested in the field get better faster and avoid some of the mistakes; however, if you don’t have aptitudes for tech, AI won’t help,” Gerry Szatvanyi, the CEO of OSF Digital told Lifewire in an email interview. “It is really about enhancing human potential.”

Programming With AI

Huang said generative AI would let anyone create new and old software applications. 

"This computer doesn't care how you program it; it will try to understand what you mean because it has this incredibly large language model capability," Huang said during his presentation at Computex 2023. "And so the programming barrier is incredibly low. We have closed the digital divide. Everyone is a programmer. Now, you just have to say something to the computer."

Coding or programming is the art of effectively getting computers to perform complex tasks, Vinod Iyengar, head of product at the artificial intelligence company ThirdAI, said in an email. He pointed out that the fundamental programming task is to think and design the system you want and then communicate via coding.

"While tools like generative AI can augment tremendously and help many folks learn and use coding, they cannot yet directly replace programmers due to the fact that someone needs to design the system," he added. "However, simple tasks like generating reports, building landing pages, and simple website design can be done by AI."

But, Iyengar said, the new wave of generative AI can help teach new learners in a personalized manner and allow users experienced in one language to quickly re-skill in other programming languages. 

For those who want to dip a toe into AI programming, Iyengar suggested trying the code assistance tool Github Copilot powered by GPT under the hood to help with programming. Similarly, ChatGPT and Google BARD can help analyze code snippets, translate functions to different languages, generate test cases, and write small code blocks for small to medium-sized tasks.

"What people should keep in mind, though, is that any data you share with these third parties could potentially be used for training and also compromised," he added. 

AI can make a developer's life easier by helping to automate tasks, Ismaen Aboubakare, the head of developer advocacy at the code development platform Airkit.ai, said in an email. 

"There are even tools that enable you to build apps with just prompts," he added. "But here's the thing, AI needs a set of specific directions. Otherwise, it will just give you a general direction. You need to be specific in what you're looking for from the LLM, and in order to be specific, you need to understand what goes into software development."

Non-programmers who want to use AI should start with ChatGPT to get help with the basics, Aboubakare said. With the ability to chat and use ChatGPT as your mentor, you can build up enough knowledge to get started.

Will AI Replace Programmers?

AI will continue to make programming more accessible, Iyengar said. Low-code and no-code platforms already exist; they'll just grow more advanced with drag-and-drop techniques, removing the need to write any code. 

"Natural language processing will help would-be programmers interact with AI so that anyone can essentially write a prompt in plain speak, and the AI will generate code based on the prompt," he added. 

Programmers have long been working on tools to speed up programming, Lachlan de Crespigny, the Co-CEO at the tech company Revelo, said in an email interview. 

"We can expect them to continue to accelerate this trend so that more non-programmers will work with technology while programmers focus on ever more complex software to solve society's biggest challenges," he added.