I still can't believe these three insights come straight out of my experience. The following 3 ways AI already changes software engineering are already part of my daily routine.
1. Documentation is Becoming Dramatically Better
Historically, documentation has been a developer's Achilles' heel.
Yet, with tools like ChatGPT, drafting quality documentation has never been easier. Begin with a basic outline, throw in some code snippets or terminal logs, and watch as it transforms into a polished document. Likewise, engineering communication such as RFCs can be enhanced, reviewed, and refined by a Large Language Model (LLM), resulting in clear and compelling content.
In an age where stellar documentation can be crafted in minutes with AI assistance, settling for mediocrity is no longer an option.
2. Tools, tests, instrumentation are practically free
Great software isn't just about innovative algorithms; it's also about the essentials: logging, testing, instrumentation, and configuration
These seemingly mundane tasks, often side-lined in sprint planning, are resource-intensive for developers. However, LLMs can generate this boilerplate with unmatched speed and precision, turning them from onerous undertaking (and thus easily dismissed in a crunch) to almost free.
Just as with documentation, there is no excuse for software without robust test coverage and useful tools.
3. Being a software engineer isn't as taxing anymore
The intricate nature of programming, especially when dealing with monotonous yet crucial tasks, can be draining. A single typo can trigger hours or even days of debugging.
But with LLMs, I've transitioned from grueling coding to a "conversational cognitive space." It's akin to brainstorming at the watercooler, but code still materializes. Where I would have spent 4h of tedious coding and maybe 1h of real thinking before, I can now often spend 1h coding and 4h of "chatting" (really, thinking).
This might be the single most important effect AI had on me: it has liberated me from the tediousness and fatigue of being a systems programmer and turned me into a systems thinker.
We are only seeing the beginning of how AI is changing software engineering; this is not science fiction, this is happening right now!