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Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of the massive use of AI for coding as early as 2025 is shaking up the tech world. Meta is not alone: other giants are planning to replace programmers with algorithms. This upheaval raises crucial questions about the future of work and the evolution of our society.
AI, the new coder of the year?
Social networking giant Meta has just reached a milestone that could well mark a new era in the technology industry. During a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced a radical transformation to come: the massive integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into software development. If we are to believe his words, 2025 could well sound the death knell for some of the human programmers within his company. This is not an isolated decision, as other companies in the sector have already begun this transition. Zuckerberg’s announcement raises the question of the future of programming professions.
According to Zuckerberg, AI is on the way to becoming a “mid-level engineer capable of writing code”. A prospect that, if realized, would revolutionize not only the way Meta works, but the entire technology sector. And for good reason: programming work is one of the foundations for the creation of new software, applications, websites or online services.
Until now, this task has been carried out by specialized engineers, often earning around $500,000 a year. By entrusting this work to an AI, Meta aims not only to make substantial savings, but also to accelerate the pace of innovation. The paradox is that the AI that will replace the work of developers needs to be created by those same developers. So how can we imagine that the transition to AI programming will be painless for those whose job it is precisely to create it?
An underlying trend in Silicon Valley
Although Meta’s announcement came as a bombshell, it is in fact merely the echo of a trend that has been taking shape in Silicon Valley for several months. Salesforce, a major software company, had already stated in December that it would no longer hire programmers from 2025, betting everything on the capabilities of its AI. Klarna, another fast-growing company, recently laid off 22% of its staff, justifying this decision by the automation enabled by artificial intelligence.
Clearly, the quest for efficiency and cost reduction is driving more and more companies to consider replacing programmers with AIs. According to estimates, replacing a programmer with an AI could save between $100,000 and $900,000 a year. An argument that carries a lot of weight in an uncertain economic climate.
What about the future of programmers?
Faced with these far-reaching changes, the question on everyone’s lips is the future of programmers. Will they all be laid off? Or will their profession be transformed? Zuckerberg is reassuring, claiming that AI will free developers from the most repetitive tasks, allowing them to devote themselves to more creative and strategic missions. He even suggests that human developers will be called upon to supervise and perfect the work of AI. This prospect should be viewed with a certain amount of hindsight, as the history of automation has already shown that productivity gains do not always rhyme with job preservation.
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However, the arrival of AI in software development should not be seen as a catastrophe, but rather as an opportunity to reinvent the developer’s craft. Human expertise will remain crucial, particularly in defining objectives, framing algorithms, testing software and solving complex problems. We can thus imagine that the profession of developer will mutate into a profession of experts more focused on problem-solving and innovation than on simply writing code. The importance of training and professional retraining in the coming years will be a major issue for companies and governments alike.
A paradigm shift for the entire sector
Beyond the future of programmers, the entire technology industry is at a turning point. The arrival of AI as a workforce is changing the cards and challenging the very organization of companies. The prospect of being able to create software at unprecedented speed and cost could stimulate innovation and pave the way for new applications and technologies. However, it also raises essential ethical and societal questions. How can we ensure that AI does not reproduce existing biases in society? How can we prevent this transition from creating a social divide between those who master AI and those who are excluded?
These questions remain unanswered for the time being. What is certain is that 2025 will mark a turning point in the history of technology. The integration of AI into programming is an irreversible phenomenon that will continue to develop and transform the world of work. It is imperative to prepare for these changes and to rethink economic and social models in order to make the most of them, without sacrificing people on the altar of performance.
Maybe it can program Zuckerberg out of existence.