Can ChatGPT replace programmers and software engineers?

ChatGPT is a chatbot developed by Open AI, launched on November 30, 2022. After only 5 days, millions of users have signed up for this tool. ChatGPT is rated as ‘answering questions like a real person’, able to present ideas logically, with depth and extremely fluently for complex questions. Rated as a more powerful tool than any chatbot has ever been, ChatGPT can write scripts, write college-level essays, write content…

When ChatGPT was first launched, many test users said that ‘ChatGPT can replace Google’s search engine’. Previously, Google ignored such comments and said ‘nothing to worry about’. But just a month later, Google’s executive team suddenly “turned the wheel” and panicked at the potential threat of this chatbot. Even just before Christmas, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, hastily issued a ‘Code Red’ to the entire company because ChatGPT is becoming too explosive globally.

However, what surprises many programmers is that this application has the ability to write computer code on its own. With just a user request, ChatGPT will instantly create websites, apps, and even basic games in a variety of programming languages. It can use Python, C and Javascript languages ​​and several languages ​​commonly used for software development.

Novelists, copywriters and journalists are confident that, while it can produce impressive results, ChatGPT has not yet reached the stage where they have to worry it will replace them immediately. .

However, the story with programmers is different. When discussing the problem of writing code, the user will be interested in whether the computer code will work or not, the written program will run or not. The user of the code will not, because the line of code is uninteresting or complex, ignores it.

Are ChatGPT and NLP a threat to software engineering and programming jobs?

According to Forbes, while ChatGPT or NLP technology may seem transcendent, currently they still cannot immediately make all programmers or software engineers redundant.

ChatGPT can only create relatively simple programs. If you ask it to create something too complex, such as a game or business application, the application will admit its weakness and through the task is currently beyond capacity.

As an example, Forbes asked ChatGPT to try to “create an e-commerce platform that sells more efficiently than Amazon,” and that application, of course, couldn’t do it. on other current NLP) is still limited in its effectiveness when it comes to software creation.

However, things may change in the future. The developments in the near future may really increase the rate of personnel turnover, some jobs will gradually be replaced.

So, how can developers use ChatGPT and other NLP tools?

The programmers interviewed by Forbes all shared that instead of seeing ChatGPT as a threat, they see it as a tool that helps with programming. This tool can be used to quickly create frameworks, draft application builds, and provide input to questions.

In addition, ChatGPT will probably replace humans in some jobs but will also create other new jobs. Therefore, the accumulated knowledge of the programmers does not immediately go to waste, they can use it to lead ChatGPT to do their job more efficiently and quickly.

Along with generating new code, another useful function of ChatGPT is debugging existing code (or even code generated by itself). Any programmer has a headache in the process of debugging.

This is often a laborious process that requires examining large amounts of code to find errors. According to shares from people who have used ChatGPT to help with coding, ChatGPT can not only automate this process, but can also explain why the code isn’t working.

Source: Forbes