We last heard about a popular slogan from 2010 that hinted at mastering the art of coding. Nearly 10 years later, we might be in the same place as revealed by a top Google executive.
The company’s head of research, Yossi Matias just sat down with Business Insider to share his insights on this front. He explained how the AI trend has impacted so many fields. Therefore, anyone and everyone who masters the skill of coding can go far ahead in their career.
Matias says your basics never fail you and as many firms keep relying on AI to get the job done, including coding, human coding skills will always be in demand. Yes, an array of tools indeed exist like GitHub Copilot which lessens the time taken to get the job done by 70%.
A lot of software engineers fear for their future and if AI might just steal their jobs. It’s even resulting in serious anxiety for those in college right now who want to learn coding pathways the classic way.
A lot of juniors keep facing challenges in terms of the level of experience they need. For them, he advised that AI is here to help them at the junior level only. Google even has sponsored projects to help juniors in this domain get ahead.
With time, work does evolve but Matias firmly feels that AI is not taking over the world of coding. This is despite claims made by Google CEO Sundar Pichai. He mentioned that 25% of all codes are now produced by AI. He similarly shared how it continues to be reviewed and accepted by many engineers.
This is why the head of research at Google wants everyone to learn coding as the basics can serve them more good now than later. They can build on so many career paths and opportunities in the professional world based on this skill.
Even if there’s someone who doesn’t wish to enter the field of software engineering, they need to comprehend how this level of tech functions. It’s quite like the basic subject of math which we all know despite computers doing the most complex calculations for us all.
More discussions were related to AI and how it’s transformed the world for the better. AI has opened up new opportunities in the healthcare and education sectors, transforming them like never before. It’s a positive change in his perspective and once the world understands that, they can benefit from it.
One interesting point was related to how individuals thanked AI for saving their lives as they brought them to a point where they were instructed to see a doctor. Had they delayed that, it would have been a completely different picture altogether.
For now, his take-home message is to learn coding as it’s a fundamental and valuable skill that your future self will thank you for.
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