Adoption of AI is spreading across the technology industry, and many organisations are incorporating tools into their day-to-day workflow. From writing code, to utilising auto completions to speed up tasks and projects, Developers are embracing the efficiency new technologies offer.
However, recent data from media publication Sifted states that only 12% of IT professionals are regularly using AI in their day-to-day jobs. While adoption of AI is rising, many companies are yet to introduce AI tools.
We asked Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Horizoom GmbH Thomas Karstens, and another trusted CTO for their opinion on AI, and how it is set to impact the tech sector in the future.
How does AI impact your teams?
Horizoom GmbH’s Thomas Karstens shares that AI has mostly had a positive impact on his teams so far, with employees utilising tools to speed up tasks, reduce time spent writing boilerplate code, and supporting in areas developers may not be as experienced in.
“Your AI assistant knows almost everything about almost any topic. For example, if you don’t know Python, and you’ve never read data from an excel file, no problem! AI assistants can support developers when they are working on tasks or projects they haven’t yet experienced.
“Developers have also been using tools such as GitHub Copilot or ChatGPT to explain code. Instead of having to start from scratch to learn a topic and a programming language syntax, developers have got a coach right at their fingertips.”
Our CTO contact shares that everyone in his development team utilises AI tools.
“GitHub Copilot is used by the entire development team. It works as a more advanced auto-complete. We also see ChatGPT as a sparring partner.
“For certain tasks, like writing queries for our SQL-based BI tool, AI tools are a game-changer. A lot of more advanced SQL queries are not something I have instant recall of so utilising these tools to support really helps.”
Do you think AI will have positive or negative impact on the industry in the future?
While both tech professionals share that they are successfully implementing AI tools into their existing processes, and reaping the benefits, do they believe AI will continue to have a positive impact on the tech industry?
“As with any technology, it has the potential to be both good and bad,” shares our CTO source.
“Without government regulation and oversight, I think it has the potential to be one of the most damaging technologies that we have ever unleashed on the world. With sound government policies on AI, however, I can see it doing a lot of good.”
Horizoom GmbH’s Thomas agrees that there could be risks with companies using AI tools in the future as the technology develops.
“I think the main risk is that AI could mean people think less and become less critical of what code AI produces. AI still makes mistakes, and if developers don’t check the content the tool produces, or are unfamiliar with the topic, they risk making mistakes.
“From my experience, AI tools don’t always write the best quality code. It is like having a developer who knows everything but does not have the ability to critically think.”
Thomas is intrigued to see the quality of upcoming junior developers. He says the quality of these newly qualified developers will depend on how colleges and universities start to embed AI in their course curriculum.
“For students, having a free coach who can explain topics in depth, or a coding assistant who can support with their assignments, is great. But I will likely start to include AI as a topic in future interviews so I can understand whether a developer is proficient without the use of AI.
“A candidate being overly enthusiastic about a tool, and claiming they are 100% as efficient as Copilot is probably going to be a red flag for me.”
How do you see AI affecting the job market?
Our CTO contact believes that AI could cause companies to focus on cost-cutting and increasing the efficiency of their business.
“I can see AI driving a narrative that lead businesses to focus more on saving money and increasing efficiency – possibly investing in a tools to do this. So far, I would suspect the biggest impact is on low-cost outsourcing platforms, like 99Designs and Fiver.”
While AI will most certainly serve a purpose in many tech businesses, Thomas believes there will still be an important place for developers.
“I don’t think developers are going anywhere anytime soon. Sure, AI tools are very interesting and show some promising results. But I don’t think it is going to yield sufficient results in the next five years to replace developers completely.
“I think many developers will become more efficient, meaning businesses may need less developers.”
Where do you see the tech industry in 5-10 years’ time?
While Thomas predicts improved efficiency due to the implementation of AI, he doesn’t believe the tech industry will differ drastically over the next decade.
“I don’t think the tech world is going to be completely different from what it is now. Developers will still be here, regular coding will still be here. Teams will probably be more efficient. I predict more innovation.”
Our CTO source agrees that there will be similarities between today’s tech landscape and that of the future.
“I think the future tech industry will be more similar to today’s tech industry than we think. I predict at least one or two technological breakthroughs with big societal breakdowns. These will likely have a big impact on the tech sector itself.”
As detailed by both Chief Technology Officers, utilising AI within the tech sector, specifically in development teams, offers a number of benefits. From streamlining tasks and increasing overall efficiency, to supporting junior developers to create code they may not be familiar with, there are many positives.
But with benefit comes risk, and both CTOs shared concerns about the impact AI could have in the future. AI could possibly impact developers ability to critically think, and a reliance on AI tools could result in an increase in errors.
What is certain is that AI isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
For more insights on the technology sector, head over to our blog.