Job losses are the primary concern whenever a new technology is developed. While technology has historically eliminated many employment, it has also opened up numerous new work opportunities. The discussions are still relevant in the generative AI era, however this time the effects might be different.

Numerous industry professionals that AIM has spoken to believe that generative AI will increase productivity and improve the effectiveness of an organization’s staff. In contrast, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently stated in an interview with The Atlantic that “a lot of people working on AI pretend that it’s only going to be good; it’s only going to be a supplement; and no one is ever going to be replaced,” adding that “Jobs are definitely going to go away, full stop.”

It’s interesting to note that CEOs of other well-known generative AI companies have also asserted that AI will result in job losses. In a recent call with UBS analysts, Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque asserted that AI will lead the majority of India’s contracted programmers to lose their employment.

Jobs in entry-level coding may disappear

ChatGPT can code, and it can code well (powered by OpenAI’s GPT models)! In actuality, the Google chatbot passed a Level-3 coding interview. Large language models (LLMs) are able to generate a significant quantity of code that previously required human interaction since they are trained on enormous amounts of human-written code. Entry-level coding positions might be eliminated because LLM can produce them much more quickly.

The president and CIO of Hinduja Global Solutions, Natarajan Radhakrishnan, says that although AI won’t completely replace jobs in coding, “the lower end of coding may indeed face replacement, not just in India but globally.”

Anurag Sahay, managing director of AI and Data Science at Nagarro, claims that as generative AI has grown, lower-level coding tasks have lost some of their utility because LLMs can produce cookie-cutter code with ease. The capacity to construct complicated systems and the speed with which they can use LLMs to produce digital products are two key value propositions that coders and engineers will need to bring to the table, he said in an interview with AIM.

Additionally, more than 15 lakh engineers graduate from more than 2500 colleges each year in India. Despite the enormous output, reports throughout the years have indicated that a sizable portion of them are unsuitable for employment. According to a McKinsey analysis, that percentage is a whopping 94%. This circumstance may be problematic in the current AI environment. Companies may prioritize using AI for task completion. Inexperienced engineers might not be fired, but they could think twice before recruiting them in the future.

Gibin Varghese, a partner in WalkWater Talent Advisors’ technology practice, agrees. He asserts that generative AI will unquestionably lower the demand for entry-level coding positions. The need for programmers with knowledge of or expertise using generative AI tools will rise in the future. The employment of developers who haven’t adapted to generative AI technologies will be at jeopardy. To stay relevant, new hires will need to upgrade their generative AI skills, he told AIM.

The standard of coding at the entry level will change.

However, not everything is lost for those looking for entry-level coding jobs, whether they are in India or elsewhere in the world. Only developers who are unable to adapt to more modern technology are at risk, as Varghese pointed out. Therefore, entry-level developers can advance their skills in cutting-edge fields to remain competitive and prosper in the changing labor market, according to Sekhar Garisa, CEO of Foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME).

In fact, in the near future, the whole nature of entry-level coding professions will alter. “In order to stay relevant, many HTML, Web, and mobile developers who write template code will need to develop metacognitive and critical-thinking skills in addition to increased software engineering expertise. So, we anticipate more competent entry-level programmers. Entry-level coding skills that are generic in nature won’t be useful, Sahay claimed.

Currently, people can upskill and improve their knowledge thanks to a variety of online resources and generative AI courses. Similar courses will probably be introduced by educational institutions to help the countless students who attend each year strengthen their abilities. “We anticipate educational institutions adopting these tools, educating students on how to utilize them, and significantly enhancing the value of the AI creatives. The only promising future is this one, Sahay continued.

More software will be written than ever before in the world

Although there may be difficulties with entry-level coding positions, there will always be a need for expert programmers to create effective, high-quality software. “As the world becomes more digital, there is a greater demand than ever for software. We think that the demand for skilled software engineers who understand how to use these AI tools to create complicated software results will only increase because the world will be creating more software than ever, according to Sahay.

The general perception of a coder’s productivity is significantly shifting when generative AI enters the scene. A website can now be created in an hour as opposed to a month in the past. The same is true for any test cases or code documentation that has to be written. With LLMs, these creatives have been greatly simplified.

But in the long run, when these LLMs develop further, there might be a situation in which these models are able to carry out difficult coding jobs, and perhaps this is the situation Altman envisions. The changes taking place in this area happen quickly and are hard to foresee. However, even if it happens, technology and consequently generative AI will produce jobs.