Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the software industry and raising a question that would have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago: could AI bring about the end of computer programming as we know it?

In a recent feature for the The New York Times Magazine titled “Coding After Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It,” veteran technology journalist Clive Thompson explored how AI tools are transforming the daily work of developers across companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and a growing ecosystem of startups.

After interviewing more than 70 programmers the article paints a picture of an industry undergoing an unusual transition. Many developers are no longer writing code line by line. Instead they are increasingly describing what they want software to do and allowing AI systems to generate the code automatically. As one developer put it the new workflow feels “deeply deeply weird.” Programming is turning into an ongoing conversation between humans and machines rather than a manual craft.

The shift is even being embraced by some of the most respected figures in the field. Programming pioneer Kent Beck said large language models have reignited his enthusiasm for building software projects. He described the experience as “addictive in a slot-machine way” because of the unpredictable results that AI systems can generate when developers experiment with them.

Technology companies are already measuring the impact. Sundar Pichai has said artificial intelligence has increased the company’s “engineering velocity” by roughly 10 percent on average across its engineering teams. Some tasks such as writing tests can now be completed tens of times faster. At smaller startups the shift is even more dramatic with founders reporting that nearly all of their code is now written by AI systems.

Developers interviewed for the article described dramatic changes to their workflow. A senior engineer at Amazon explained that ideas which once required days of work can now be executed in minutes. “Things I’ve always wanted to do now only take a six-minute conversation and a ‘Go do that.’” Another programmer described working with multiple AI coding agents as collaborating with “an alien intelligence that we’re learning to work with.”

This new model is also redefining what it means to be a software developer. Instead of acting as the person who writes every line of code developers increasingly see themselves as designers and decision-makers. One programmer compared the role to that of Steve Jobs reviewing prototypes: developers now generate many AI-created versions of a solution and then judge which one works best. In this world the developer becomes less of a construction worker and more of an architect.

Not everyone welcomes the change. Some engineers worry that relying too heavily on AI will weaken fundamental programming skills. Others are concerned about the environmental costs of large AI models or the legal issues surrounding how those models were trained.

One engineer at Apple lamented the possible loss of craftsmanship saying “I believe that it can be fun and fulfilling and engaging and having the computer do it for you strips you of that… I didn’t do it to make a lot of money. I did it because it’s my passion.”

Despite these concerns many developers appear enthusiastic about the new tools. Several told Thompson that even when AI writes most of the code they still feel the same excitement when a program finally works. Yet the broader implications remain uncertain. As the article concludes the mixture of excitement and anxiety among programmers may foreshadow what many other professions will experience as AI spreads across the economy. “How things will shake out for professional coders isn’t yet clear” Thompson writes but one thing is certain: the nature of programming is already changing.

Source: The New York Times Magazine — Coding After Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It by Clive Thompson.