Thinking of how we should follow AI.

#ai #programming #productivity #career

Introduction

The emergence of GitHub Copilot Workspace (GCW) is expected to have a significant impact on the future of engineering work. Even the introduction of GitHub Copilot, a plugin that offers AI-powered code suggestions, has already brought substantial changes, which is evident from its current usage.

I have my own thoughts on this matter and would like to share them.

Background Information about GCW

For example, suppose you want to prepare some mock data. Ordinarily, you would have to painstakingly create arrays, generate data, and consider the content of the mock data by yourself. However, with GitHub Copilot, you can simply write a comment like this:

// Describe data that fits the following content:
// - Number of data: 100
// - Data structure: {name: string, age: number, address: string}
// - Names should be fictional general names
// - Ages should be random numbers between 20 and 50
// - Addresses should be real addresses but up to the city level

Copilot will then automatically generate 100 data points that meet your specifications. You can also easily modify the generated data by simply providing a comment like "change this and that, and recreate the data with these changes" to the data generated above, and it will regenerate it for you.

This reduces the human workload to less than one-tenth. Additionally, providing specifications generates corresponding code and tests, showcasing a significant shift in engineering work.

According to GitHub Articles that say GCW is evolving even further, it is said to go beyond code-level and data creation, understanding the context of the project and creating code.

For example, you can create an issue with specifications and GCW will generate code that meets those specifications and even allow you to check its functionality. We can expect it to be quite powerful, if you actually use it once.

The Future of Engineering Work

So, how will the work of engineers change as a result of these developments? I believe that the job of an engineer will not disappear, but the definition of the job will change.

The current work of engineers like:

Defining specifications
Writing code
Ensuring quality

This will transform dramatically to:

Determine the direction of the product
Breaking down into specifications
Having AI make adjustments and works with the prompt you write

However, the problem here is, how far should we go with these revisions and specifications?, what level of engineering skills are required to do so?, and where can these skills be acquired?

From the current perspective, everything is unknown. The way we work will change drastically.

For now, if you want to consider API interfaces, you need to enforce those interfaces with libraries, and you also need to consider library selection and need to think of how you should operate it. To make these decisions, you need operational experience and experience with failures.

However, if you use AI (GCW), the interfaces will not be operated by us. If they are misoperated, it means that the specifications are wrong. In other words, there is no need to think about a mechanism to enforce them. Even if you manage interfaces with documents, AI can complement them so that there are no omissions or mistakes in changes.

Today, there are still many experienced engineers and the AI era has just begun, so there are many people with a refined sense of direction and land sense. However, in 3-4 years, a new generation of engineers who do not need this sense of direction will emerge. In 10 years, more engineering skills have rusted because they were no longer needed.

The definition of an engineer will shift from “an engineer checks what AI generates” to a new role. While some may think that the job of engineers will not disappear because they will verify AI outputs, the skills needed to judge whether these outputs are correct.

Currently, we manage with the wisdom of those without AI, but people who have a kind of experience will gradually disappear and those kind of experiences become unnecessary. Finally, a new definition of engineering will emerge.

Conclusion

Many engineers say they are afraid of their jobs being taken over by AI.

I am one of them.

I have tried to put into words my thoughts on where that fear comes from.

Not only engineers but everyone will face unknown world in the future. The year 2023 seems to have become a turning point for this world. We need to think about what skills will be required for this new world and what abilities we should pass on to the next generation, and adapt our work styles accordingly.