8 Mar 2023 · Culture

    ChatGPT Writes Code: Will It Replace Software Developers?

    8 min read
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    With the rise of new powerful technologies, everything in the web world is getting streamlined day by day. The emergence of AI technology is one prime example of this. AI offers a new method of performing various tasks with the power of premade algorithms. The arrival of ChatGPT is yet another great statement made by artificial intelligence that has shown how AI can automate writing with minimal human effort.

    Currently, ChatGPT is getting a lot of attention due to its great responsive algorithm. It is a new kind of AI tool that responds to almost any question. This means that ChatGPT can interact with humans without feeling robotic. By understanding natural language, it can do various types of tasks just like a human can do in a normal environment. This is one of the core reasons why ChatGPT is being hailed as a new-age innovation in the field of AI technology.

    However, there is a flip side, and ChatGPT has also raised many concerns. Many people think that ChatGPT will directly impact human-held jobs. The potential that ChatGPT has shown to respond meaningfully to many types of queries has caused people to worry about future implications.

    This article focuses on the impact of ChatGPT on software development. Since the tool has also shown great potential in coding, many people are worried that ChatGPT could take their jobs in the future. Let’s delve into this and see if you really need to worry about ChatGPT taking your job.

    What is ChatGPT?

    ChatGPT is a newly-introduced AI tool that responds to queries with human-like text. It is built primarily to understand natural language questions and prepare answers for them accordingly. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, ChatGPT gives answers that sound convincingly human. This is what  makes it stand out from other AI tools.

    Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT has a high-level ability to interact intelligently with natural language. It uses an NLP model to understand queries and generate answers for them. The tool was trained on a large set of text data, meaning that it has a large pool of words that can be used to generate answers for all types of questions. From short text-based paragraphs to long stories, ChatGPT provides answers on a wealth of topics. Not just that, but it also understands different graphic design terms, meaning that it can help you write more complex content.

    This is certainly a unique feature that is not seen in any other product currently available. The best part is that it is only going to get better with more advanced AI algorithms in the future.

    Important capabilities of ChatGPT

    ChatGPT is not just a tool to generate content. It is a complete system that provides human-like interaction. When it was introduced on the market, people thought that ChatGPT was just another content writing tool. But it has proven them wrong by showcasing stunning capabilities for writing code in several server-side scripting languages.

    This ability makes ChatGPT a one-of-a-kind AI tool that can even perform coding for development. The large language models used by ChatGPT enable it to understand programming instructions and produce stunning results . And this is not just limited to one programming language, rather it can accommodate any coding style and language that is out there.

    According to a report by Stanford University, ChatGPT has 175 billion parameters and is trained on 570 gigabytes of text. This shows how powerful this AI tool is, as it is capable of performing tons of computations and processing with a large set of text data.

    Besides providing answers in English, ChatGPT can interact in other languages as well. This means that you can use ChatGPT to translate sentences from one language to another. From French to Spanish and Arabic to Chinese, without limitations. This is also one of the main reasons why ChatGPT has quickly gained global recognition, and people have proclaimed it the next big innovation of AI.

    ChatGPT and software development

    When ChatGPT came out on the market in late November 2022, people regarded it as a powerful content generation tool. But quickly, the curtains came off and ChatGPT showed its amazing potential for writing software code as well. This came as a surprise for everyone, because nobody was expecting this ability from this tool. This stunning capability made headlines in the field of software development, giving developers a new tool to add to their repertoire.

    Considering its current capabilities, ChatGPT brings a lot of benefits for developers. It can write complete programming code on its own, allowing developers to just sit back and provide the instructions. All they have to do is check the correctness of the code generated at the end, but this is not a difficult task because ChatGPT writes code very well. This certainly represents a next-level evolution, showing how software programming (like the development process) can also be automated.

    However, with this great advancement, some valid concerns have also been raised by the development community. Many people fear that this great evolution could replace their jobs in the future. This is not an overestimation, but a very valid point to examine. The capabilities shown by ChatGPT are certainly exemplary, which is why its potential growth in the future and the implications thereof have people concerned.

    Is ChatGPT really a threat to software developers?

    After looking more closely at the great success of ChatGPT and its capabilities, many developers are quite skeptical of whether it is a threat to their future or not. Well, let’s dig a bit deeper into this. Rather than looking at it as an existential threat, let’s focus on the benefits that ChatGPT offers for developers. For starters, let’s first look at some advantages of using ChatGPT for software development. Then, let’s discuss where ChatGPT doesn’t measure up well against human devs, and why software development will always need humans steering the process.

    Benefits of ChatGPT for Software Development

    ChatGPT offers a lot of benefits for software developers. It is a tool that cuts down the need for lengthy manual coding. This is something that has been long needed by the development community, as many people often become frustrated by doing repetitive coding tasks. With the help of ChatGPT, this problem can be easily solved, allowing developers to just sit back and instruct the AI tool to write automated code for them.

    With the use of in-depth machine learning algorithms, ChatGPT can handle and manipulate data in bulk. This means that basic programming operations can be easily done with ChatGPT. It will help you to quickly create functions, modules, and so on. And, based on case-specific requirements, you can always edit the results to create the perfect code for any needed software feature.

    This is how ChatGPT will help to simplify various coding tasks. It is something that will speed up the development process, enabling developers to code multiple application features quickly.

    Major Limitations of ChatGPT

    ChatGPT is undoubtedly a great AI tool that brings various advantages for software development. However, it is still a computer bot and has a few limitations in its system. These boundaries can’t be passed by the AI itself, and can only be resolved by a human. This is one of the core reasons why human developers still have an edge over ChatGPT. There are various jobs in which software developers need to work themselves, because they cannot be done using automated code.

    This fact has been proven multiple times, and ChatGPT is not an exception. A software product feature with a critical custom requirement can only be created by human developers. Humans program applications with proper QA checks, which is something that cannot be done by ChatGPT. This is one of the great advantages of manual coding which gives humans an edge over automated platforms like ChatGPT. ChatGPT can do some of the heavy lifting, but delicate tasks and overall direction remain out of its reach.

    Conclusion

    ChatGPT is undoubtedly a revolutionary AI tool that will bring huge benefits for software developers. From speedy code generation to simplifying redundant programming tasks, ChatGPT is the solution many in the development community have been looking for.

    The rise of AI technology is definitely a great plus for the software development field. And both human developers and tools like ChatGPT can coexist harmoniously.

    To assuage the worries of those who fear that ChatGPT and potential future tools like it will take their jobs, one only needs to look at the weaknesses of AI. ChatGPT is an amazing achievement, but it is not the equal of the human brain. Humans will remain essential to the software development process for the foreseeable future and AI advances will help them to be better developers.

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    Writen by:
    Hailey Savona is an avid content marketer at Logo Poppin. She loves to talk and write about everything tech including the latest trends. When Hailey isn’t blogging, she likes to take her dogs to the park for a little game of catch.
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    I picked up most of my soft/hardware troubleshooting skills in the US Army. A decade of Java development drove me to operations, scaling infrastructure to cope with the thundering herd. Engineering coach and CTO of Teleclinic.