engineering house, debates about whether or not utilizing LLMs in coding is an efficient or a nasty thought are raging. On the extremes, there are some individuals who suppose that any use of LLMs in coding is indefensible, and different individuals are able to throw out the entire area of software program engineering as too costly and pointless. I’m fascinated by this dialogue, significantly from my sociologist’s perspective, as a result of a lot of the dialog appears to be about whether or not an LLM is helpful. Is it so fatally flawed that it’s a complete waste of time, or is it so unimaginably highly effective that it’s a idiot’s errand to keep away from it? As a substitute of interested by it so narrowly, I truly actually wish to speak concerning the broader context of software program engineering within the context of LLM know-how. (I contemplate software program engineering solely adjoining to my area of machine studying engineering, however I’ve labored alongside many extraordinarily gifted SWEs in my profession, at tech corporations of assorted sizes, and I’ve had the prospect to watch the function fairly carefully. A number of the evaluation beneath additionally applies to the MLE area, however not all of it.)
Context
Throughout my very own profession I’ve seen quite a bit change within the American tech economic system, and in the way in which the job of “coding” has been perceived and described. It’s a little bit of a trope but it surely was definitely true for a time frame that “studying to code” was touted because the quickest option to a white collar profession with a gradual paycheck and future-proof prospects, each for younger folks and for career-changers looking for a spot within the shifting economic system. Coding bootcamps got here and (principally) went, for a time giving folks a comparatively fast option to acquire the foundational abilities of the job.
In lots of fields, nonetheless, shortages of certified staff can swiftly flip right into a glut of expertise with nowhere to go (ask legal professionals), particularly when excessive or at the least comfy salaries are on supply. Whereas some folks suppose that is occurring in software program engineering, it’s not clear if that’s essentially the case but, as a result of there are different components in play too. Within the mid-2010s, many tech corporations and startups had been scrambling for hyper-growth and hiring as quick as attainable, utilizing low cost enterprise capital to fund their expansions with out regard for profitability, however that’s definitively over now. Tech layoffs, together with many software program engineers, exploded within the years instantly following the beginning of the COVID pandemic, largely as a response to the unsustainable hiring of previous years and the sudden jolt to the economic system of lockdowns. After that interval of layoffs, hiring for SWE expertise slowed in lots of sectors. Developer skillsets are diversifying and specializing, so there should still be sub-fields with sturdy hiring, however a variety of younger SWEs particularly are struggling to interrupt in.
Junior vs Senior
This brings us round to now. Some folks argue that there aren’t too many software program engineers, however there are too many inexperienced or junior software program engineers, and that employers are nonetheless determined for skilled hires. What does that basically imply? Is it true? With out doing educational analysis to essentially examine (if anybody has achieved good analysis on this query, please ship it to me!), we will nonetheless check out the problems concerned. First, let’s outline phrases.
I’m not utilizing anyone’s in-house leveling phrases, or speaking about job titles right here, however I wish to make clear what the variations is perhaps in somebody’s function relying on the expertise and abilities they create.
A junior SWE is somebody who wants fairly a little bit of assist, teaching, and managing to provide good high quality work. They’re not but at a spot of working independently or mentoring others. They’re nonetheless studying how the job is completed. This doesn’t imply they don’t produce worth! Junior engineers do write code and get work achieved, and so they can usually study in a short time and develop into extra productive. Nonetheless, a senior SWE is somebody who may be anticipated to work principally independently, with minimal supervision required for good work to be achieved and targets to be met, and they are often relied on to assist these junior of us alongside. They begin to have the ability to clear up tougher issues, write elegant code that is top quality, and even start being a part of technique conversations about how you can construct your complete codebase for the lengthy haul.
This is kind of the sample for many expert professions — you’ll study some quantity of what it’s essential to know from education or coaching, however you actually learn to be a member of the career and do the job from expertise and observe. There’s no set rule about how a lot time it takes so that you can go from junior to senior on this framework, as a result of it’s all about what you are able to do and the capabilities you could have. Your perceived worth as a employee (and your pay) go up as you get higher on the job over time.
LLMs Enter Stage Left
With this, we will begin to inquire about how that shifts, and the way the existence of LLMs and LLM based mostly coding instruments truly could (to make use of a cliche) disrupt the context of the career now.
As a person, if you happen to’re a senior SWE, you may discover an LLM software like Github Copilot or Cursor helpful for doing scut work, comparable to getting unit assessments working, writing fundamental docs, or sketching out the beginning of a venture that you simply’ll then fill in based mostly by yourself data. Nonetheless, your individual data is de facto very important for this to be efficient. As we in machine studying will inform you, LLM output is probabilistic at its core. If the coaching knowledge has many examples of code which are related to what you’re doing, it’s going to be moderately prone to produce code for you that works. However in the end (most likely sooner) it’s going to generate one thing that gained’t work. That is perhaps failing loudly or failing silently, it is perhaps opening up a safety gap, or it’d simply be a suboptimal means of doing a job. The factor that issues at that time is what you do in response.
Assuming you’re a senior SWE with important expertise writing all these items by hand your self, you could have the abilities to identify the errors, and work out how you can repair them easily so the top product works properly. The LLM most likely makes you extra productive ultimately, since you may summary away a number of the work that isn’t fascinating and doesn’t require a lot thought. If you happen to’re not a senior individual, properly, then you could find yourself going again to the LLM to ask it to repair its personal errors. And it’d try this, however there’s all the time a danger of one other mistake being launched, and on down the street. There’s actually no telling how lengthy this might take, and it’s arduous to check the time with how lengthy it might have taken you to study the underlying code and simply clear up it your self.
Nonetheless, plenty of folks will argue that the LLM repeating workflow is ok. Folks could consider that simply being there to click on the hover button to inform Copilot to “Repair” again and again is adequate, even when it’s not a very satisfying job. Nonetheless, there are critical arguments to be made that the output will probably be severely flawed, whether or not in readability, maintainability, safety holes, or different features.
“Positive, Gen AI supercharges growth, but it surely additionally supercharges danger. Two engineers can now churn out the identical quantity of insecure, unmaintainable code as 50 engineers.” — https://www.zdnet.com/article/10-professional-developers-on-vibe-codings-true-promise-and-peril/
This query has been addressed by many writers not too long ago. Nonetheless, I’m much less at this second in whether or not Copilot can get to the specified end result finally than I’m in what this course of and means of working does to us.
Broaden the Aperture
Keep in mind that we’re right here to speak concerning the impact of the LLM on the career. Within the pre-AI period, a junior engineer would begin engaged on a ticket, and make some errors, introduce a bug or two, and so they’d principally be armed with StackOverflow and the docs, plus friends to collaborate with for assist, to determine how you can get it proper. As soon as they muddled by and received the code working, they’d make a PR and get suggestions from extra skilled friends, who would supply suggestions and corrections. As soon as these corrections had been made, a PR may very well be permitted and merged.
I believe the “muddling by” a part of this course of is definitely pedagogically and professionally fairly essential. When you’ve handed by the educational preparation for the software program engineering function, the sensible preparation is what it’s essential to develop the capabilities to develop. I’m a powerful believer in the concept making errors and fixing them is a tremendously precious option to study. As soon as the junior dev engaged on that little bit of code has labored arduous, fastened their very own bugs, written the assessments and docs, and gone by PR assessment, they know that little bit of code higher than some other individual round. That course of is the productive cognitive labor that brings them a step nearer to being an engineer who can work independently, and tackle extra senior duties efficiently.
On Being Environment friendly
Nonetheless, from the surface, this course of appears sluggish. It appears like that they had to spend so much of time flailing round to simply get to the top results of code that works, and certainly it might be extra environment friendly to both simply make an LLM do it, or make a senior dev do it?
If effectivity is your solely standards, then certain, perhaps that is true. However I wish to push again strongly on the premise. We do plenty of issues with out interested by broader context or affect, particularly within the tech business, and prioritizing effectivity right now in any respect prices is a recipe for future catastrophe. Let’s spin out the narrative a bit — if effectivity is the precedence, both we now have an LLM do the majority of the work, or a senior dev does it, or perhaps a little bit of each, like an LLM does the primary stab and a senior dev evaluations it. Setting apart any questions of high quality (about which there ought to be questions), what’s the function of a junior SWE on this house?
Does a junior SWE watch the LLM do many of the coding? Do they simply exist as an observer? Do they click on “okay” on occasion because the LLM goes alongside, exemplifying “vibe coding”? Or do they not exist in any respect on this situation? Loud voices within the AI house definitely are arguing that they disappear altogether. If that’s the case, within the rapid second, employers in tech save a major amount of cash on salaries, so inventory worth goes up.
The thought of vibe coding is utilizing an LLM based mostly software to put in writing the code on your venture, with minimal precise hand-writing of code concerned. The title comes from the precept that you simply behind the keyboard have a normal sense of the “vibe” of what you need your end result to be, however you both don’t know how you can do it your self or don’t wish to do it your self, so that you’re outsourcing the cognitive work of coding to a pc. You’ll simply describe the broad strokes of what you need, in human language, and let the LLM work out a option to obtain that by code.
Hollowing
Nonetheless, we all know {that a} wholesome career must be bringing in new expertise as senior workers progress and finally retire. Senior engineers are nonetheless being wanted, as a result of they will clear up the issues and write the advanced code that neither junior devs nor LLMs can produce. Their expertise and abilities are undeniably precious and essential to good software program being produced. However the place do we predict senior engineers come from? Identical to senior medical doctors, or senior attorneys, they begin out as junior folks. Their capabilities should be acquired by expertise.
If we construct a working atmosphere the place junior software program engineers now not exist, we’re hollowing out the pipeline of expertise the career wants. As a substitute of getting a funnel of expertise from educational examine into the sector, younger folks haven’t any actual option to get to the extent of expertise that’s in highest demand.
Conclusions
I admire readers coming together with me on this dialogue, as a result of it’s essential to consider the know-how we make ubiquitous not simply from our personal particular person views however from a broader view. How we make use of LLM know-how within the area of software program engineering can have a critical affect on the way forward for the career and what it appears like — and, I’d argue, that is true for a lot of different fields as properly the place incorporating LLMs is turning into modern. I’m not arguing for zero LLM utilization in coding, by any means — it may be extremely helpful you probably have the expertise and abilities to profit from it. (There are various essential conversations to have about the way it could affect our ability ranges and the upkeep of our abilities, however that’s a special matter for an additional day.)
However in any career, senior practitioners don’t simply seem — they’re created, and that strategy of creation takes work and time, and is probably not essentially the most instantly “environment friendly” factor to do. Effectivity within the rapid second simply isn’t a very powerful factor — it may well’t be, if we wish the long run to be vibrant.
I’m talking at two occasions in July 2025, together with a free digital convention referred to as “Brokers in Manufacturing” — please enroll if you happen to’re !
Learn extra of my work at www.stephaniekirmer.com.
Additional Studying
AI Killed My Job: Tech employees
Tech employees at TikTok, Google, and throughout the business share tales about how AI is altering, ruining, or changing…www.bloodinthemachine.com
10 skilled builders on vibe coding’s true promise and peril
Is vibe coding the way forward for software program or a safety nightmare in disguise? Right here’s what skilled builders suppose…www.zdnet.com
Frontiers | Some Proof on the Cognitive Advantages of Studying to Code
Please see the submitted recordsdata.www.frontiersin.org
Trusting your individual judgement on ‘AI’ is a big danger
Internet dev on the finish of the world, from Hveragerði, Icelandwww.baldurbjarnason.com
Jones, Capers. 2014. The Technical and Social Historical past of Software program Engineering.
Layoffs.fyi — Tech Layoff Tracker and DOGE Layoff Tracker
LIVE] Monitoring all tech startup layoffs — and lists of staff laid off — since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic…layoffs.fyi
