Sorry to disappoint the dreamers out there, but Skynet is not ready to replace programmers.
After my first year as a Junior Developer, I have certainly used my fair share of ChatGPT and other A.I. tools to help my code when in a pinch, and I'm here to tell you, HAL is not ready to take your job.
Understanding The Limitations of A.I.
Artificial intelligence may be the most obedient summer intern you'll ever have, but unfortunately sometimes, it's just as clueless as one.
When I first started as a Junior Dev, I needed to learn VBA (the language of Microsoft applications for those who aren't familiar) and many times I turned to ChatGPT to try to help guide me through bits of code. Unfortunately, ChatGPT was even more clueless than I, unable to do the most basic tasks like for loops in VBA - occasionally spitting out completely different languages like VB.NET or sometimes even C#.
Since LLM's are based only on what they've been fed (and they can only consume so much) they are limited in how in-depth their knowledge can be on a given subject.
The Importance of Coding Principles
Another BIG reason Junior Devs will have jobs for decades is that to use A.I. to it's full potential - you need to understand how to code.
Anybody that's attempted using ChatGPT has fallen victim to A.I. hallucinations. The worst part is, the LLM tells you so convincingly that the rubbish it's providing you is totally correct. Even when you tell it that it's wrong, it will acknowledge that it completely botched the response, then procceeds to deliver you the same response again.
Programmers that don't know how to code and pick up on the hallucinations are going to have a rough career unless they learn good coding principles and catch these errors.
Collaborating with A.I. for Enhanced Productivity
Now it's not all bad - A.I. is possibly the best thing that's happened to Junior Developers in a very long time.
Where ChatGPT and other LLM's shine is in their ability to generate "boiler plate" code or for content generation. I remember putting a demo site together for a client, and I needed a large list of the most common camp related injuries. Rather than having to google the most common camp injuries, sift through the results, remove duplicates, then put them into an array, I asked ChatGPT to put a PHP array called injuries together, containing the 30 most common camp related injuries - seconds later, I copied and pasted it in to my text editor and I was on to the next task.
It is an amazing tool and should be embraced to increase a Junior Developer's productivity by writing very basic code and locating small syntax or spelling errors - but Junior Developers can rest easy knowing that A.I. is still decades away from replacing you.