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Is AI taking over our jobs?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman gave his thoughts on this controversial topic.
In an internal fireside chat Garman had with his employees last June, he expressed his belief that software developers might take on an entirely different meaning in the future.
"If you go forward 24 months from now, or some amount of time — I can't exactly predict where it is — it's possible that most developers are not coding," said the CEO in a recording obtained by Business Insider.
In a leaked recording, Amazon cloud chief tells employees that most developers could stop coding soon as AI takes over https://t.co/fh6EznirZN
— Insider Tech (@TechInsider) August 20, 2024
Garman continued, describing coding as a language we use to talk to computers and a skill in and of itself.
This skill, he emphasizes, is answering the question: "How do I innovate? How do I go build something that's interesting for my end users to use?"
The CEO believes the job of software developers will change, telling his team they need to be more in tune with their customers' needs and the "end thing" that they're building, "because that's going to be more and more of what the work is as opposed to sitting down and actually writing code."
DesignRush previously interviewed GM and Head of Wix Studio Gali Erez, and she mirrors this sentiment, believing that agencies can cut 90% of resource use if they go the route of no-code/low-code development.
The best software development firms are those that know how to adapt to changing trends and technology. If no-code/low-code development can efficiently handle customers' needs, then providers have to adjust.
Is AI Taking Over, or Are Jobs Just Changing?
The rapid growth and prevalence of AI have brought about discussions surrounding the job market, as more people worry about the technology replacing their jobs.
According to a recent study conducted by Gartner, 87% of marketers believe they will lose their jobs to AI, while 89% expressed fear over job cuts in their company in favor of the technology.
And while there's no simple "yes" or "no" answer to the question, software developers can ease up a bit.
In Garman's speech, he stated that AI won't exactly replace software developers, but instead redefine their roles.
AWS Spokesperson Aisha Johnson reaffirmed the CEO's sentiments, which positioned the rise of AI as an opportunity instead of a replacement.
"Matt articulated a vision for how AWS will continue to remove undifferentiated heavy lifting from the developer experience so that builders can focus more of their skill and energy on the most innovative work," Johnson said in a statement.
Another way to quell this AI anxiety is to embrace the technology and find ways to incorporate it into their workflow.
Garman provided his employees with an example, bringing up Smartsheet's new AI features courtesy of the chatbot Q and having these features embedded into a Slack channel that could answer employee inquiries.
The CEO explained that, in this case, AI isn't taking away their jobs, just changing how they do them.
Finding the most efficient way to integrate AI into their workflows is a great way to cope with these changes, staying relevant with whatever your position is.
Amazon is definitely one of the companies investing heavily in AI. Last March, the eCommerce giant announced making a $4 billion investment in the AI startup Anthropic.
Editing by Katherine 'Makkie' Maclang
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