In recent months, AI coding has become increasingly powerful, aside from what we previously introduced. CursorRecently, it has appeared again Bolt․new，even ChatGPT has joined Canvas This feature allows even people who have no understanding of code at all to easily create programs of their own, which has also started to make people worry — are software engineers about to be replaced?
I think not at all. These tools are actually a huge help for software engineers. Many things can be done through AI, so engineers have more time to work on harder projects. But this also means that with more time available, how to improve your skills becomes even more important.
A recent report indicates that by 2027, 80% of software engineers will be forced to upgrade their skills. Those who fail to keep up will likely be replaced.
Gartner: By 2027, 80% of software engineers will need to upskill to keep up with the AI revolution.
Gartner recently conducted an in-depth research report on AI’s impact on software engineering, which should serve as a good reference for those aspiring to become engineers or already working in the industry.
The report points out that in the short term, AI tools will significantly boost software developers’ productivity through automation and repetitive tasks. This is something I mentioned earlier—basic programming is something AI can already easily handle, and quite a few advanced developers have started using AI to improve their efficiency, whether it’s building basic architecture or fixing bugs.
Next, Gartner expects AI agents to fully automate specific software engineering tasks, at which point AI-generated software engineering will become mainstream, with most code automatically generated by AI.
Gartner Senior Chief Analyst Philip Walsh stated:
在 AI 生成時代，軟體工程師必須以 ‘ AI 優先’ 的思維進行工作，重點是如何引導 AI 代理完成任務，確保遵循正確的指示與限制條件。
In the long term, Gartner also advises companies to invest in AI development platforms to ensure future competitiveness and drive the advancement of AI capabilities.
Therefore, they believe that by 2027, 80% of software engineers will need to upgrade their skills to keep up with the rapid development of AI technology.
In other words, AI engineers need to possess a combination of expertise in software engineering, data science, and AI/machine learning (ML), which will be highly sought-after skills in the market.
AI won’t replace software engineers immediately, but if you don’t improve, you could be replaced in the future.
Contrary to popular belief, Gartner believes that AI won’t put software engineers out of work, but will instead bring a whole new shape to the industry. That’s indeed true—recently I chatted with friends who write code, and they all mentioned that with AI in the mix, their original workflows have already changed significantly.
In fact, this applies not just to software engineers but to workers in other industries as well. How to apply AI tools to one’s work is an issue that many people need to think about and explore.
But I also don’t think there’s a need to rush, since AI is changing so fast right now—capabilities improve dramatically in no time. As long as you stay open-minded and try out new tools as they come, you should be fine.
Source:ITPRO
Source: KOCPC Chinese