AWS boss: Many programmers will soon have to change jobs because of AI

Software developers may soon have to acquire new skills as artificial intelligence (AI) takes over many programming tasks. At least that's what Matt Garman thinks. The head of Amazon Web Services (AWS) philosophized about this topic during an internal fireside chat in June, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by Business Insider. "If you fast-forward 24 months or a certain amount of time – I can't predict exactly when it will be – it's possible that most developers aren't programming," the industrial engineer explained shortly after taking over as CEO. "Programming is like the language we use to communicate with computers." However, this activity is not necessarily the most sought-after human skill. Rather, it lies in innovation.

"How do I build something that is interesting for my end users?" Garman gave an example, according to the report. Current technological developments mean that the job of a programmer will change. "All of us" need to be more attuned to "what our customers need and what the actual end product is that we are trying to build", the manager emphasized. Because that will increasingly be the core of human work in the future. Sitting down and actually writing code, on the other hand, will become less important.

The debate about whether generative AI in particular will change jobs or cost jobs has been gathering pace for some time. AI tools such as ChatGPT or Gemini can automatically generate code and potentially help companies to achieve more with the same or even fewer engineers and IT experts. Amazon's cloud division AWS itself laid off hundreds of employees earlier this year. Consultants from McKinsey, IDC and Bain & Company see the greatest potential of generative AI in the IT sector in the automated development of new application software. Critics argue that code agents can generate source code quickly, but are unable to understand errors and the meaning of the lines.

AI as a job killer for programmers?

Garman did not want to issue a gloomy warning about the extinction of programmers, but ultimately wanted to give advice, Business Insider summarizes the speech. His tone was optimistic. The Amazon veteran pointed out that AI opens up more creative opportunities for developers. AWS helps employees to "educate themselves and learn about new technologies" in order to increase their productivity with the help of AI. Programming in 2025 is likely to be fundamentally different than in 2020.

The post sparked a lively discussion on Reddit. Apparently, Garman wanted to express the need to "raise the level of abstraction in software development", one user explained. Another understood the businessman to mean "that working as a programmer is not just about using syntax, but about much more". It alludes to "a transition from machine code to a higher language", which only makes working as a software developer with its wide range of skills and abilities more important. Another user agrees with Turing Award winner Yann LeCun, according to whom all repetitive, predictable tasks in the software world have already been automated without AI, for example via low/no-code solutions. Future tasks for programmers are therefore associated with a certain novelty and unpredictability, "for which AI is not well suited in the near future".

(ll)