HACKER Q&A
📣 Octoverse

Programming career prospects for beginners in regards to AI


I'm a beginner who enjoys programming, particularly the larger scale side of software and systems architecture. I'm trying to understand how AI might impact programming careers in the next 5-10 years.

Some specific questions I'm curious about:

From those working in the industry, how has generative AI (I've heard great things about Gemini 2.5 but haven't tested it out yet) currently affected your work and the general software engineering landscape?

Do you think programming will remain a viable career path in 5-10 years? And how long will that last?

What areas of programming and thinking tasks (I say thinking tasks because I've heard that AI has better mathematical reasoning than humans) in general seem most/least likely to be automated by AI? How do you incorporate AI into your workflow in areas where you think it is strong?

For those skeptical of AI, what are the key limitations you see?

I enjoy programming and will continue learning as a hobby, regardless of AI. However, I'm trying to think ahead about career prospects. Any insights on any of the questions from experienced people in the field would be appreciated.

  👤 zigcBenx Accepted Answer ✓
Currently there is quite a lot of noise regarding AI replacing developers, most of which is coming from people who are not technical and think they got super powers with the rise of AI assistants - which in a way is true.

However the point of programmers is not just writing code (some might disagree) but rather problem evaluating and problem solving.

Sometimes the goal of programmer/developer/Software engineer is not to develop a feature that superior has given, but rather to figure out the source of the problem and how to solve it in the most optimal way. Sometimes that means suggesting that nothing is developed, but only processes are altered.

Regarding using AI as assistants and helpers when programming, I agree they can be helpful, but it depends on a problem, person and assistant you are using.

I can speak only for my self, and I can say I hate copilot or other alternative constantly suggesting me lines of code, I find this not only annoying but also very distracting.

On the other hand I really enjoy discussing specific problem with AI, because sometime it can suggests different approach I would have never thought of.

But this cases are really personal preferences.

As it goes for beginners, who are still learning the basic concepts of programming I would highly recommend NOT to use AI, because your foundations will be very poor, and you will struggle to grow as a developer. There is nothing wrong to ask ChatGPT about an error that you can't resolve your self, but asking him to write you code instead of you is not a good idea for beginner.

I don't see programming careers going anywhere anytime soon, if that is something you would like to hear :D