You probably already know that questions are being raised on the efficacy of Devin AI, a product that supposedly could replace software engineers in the future. The week the first demo was launched, I covered them in my episode of “So What”. I was cautious about my “hype scale” score. My comments were that since I have not used it, I do not know how effective it is and whether it will replace software engineers in the near term or will replace them at all. However, the future of programming will be dominated by AI.

Few weeks later, we found out that the demo was fabricated. The solution does not have the capability to actually do what it was shown to do in the demo.

This development still has not changed my take on the future. Within ten years, the future of programming will be dominated by AI. Note that I have mentioned “dominated”. Will such solutions replace software engineers? Probably not. This has been my take on other application areas of AI, such as AI performing surgeries. AI-enabled bots performing surgeries will not be a common occurrence in our lifetime.

But why are we fascinated with AI replacing professions? Because of the hype around us, AI is going to take over everything. The fact is, to fully leverage the true value of AI for the next few decades, many professions need to look at AI tools from an enabler perspective vs. replacement.

Attempts like Devin AI are result of cashing on this obsession of AI “taking over”. This is why I caution against building too much hype. Even as an innovative, AI-powered product company, you have to be cautious about how the buzz you are trying to create will be absorbed. Imagine you were a competitor of Devin, close to actually building the capabilities that Devin fabricated in the demo. The public knowledge about the fabricated Demo means that the trust in whether AI can actually do those tasks that it was claimed it could do has been breached.

While this may seem like a standalone incident, collectively, over time, incidences like these could change the perception of actual AI capabilities. This can hurt an industry that is now on the cusp of using these capabilities to make a significant impact. This also hurts the investors who are actively investing in startups working on building AI-enabled solutions.

The fact is, investors need to form an alliance and set up a guidelines body. This body can help evaluate claims by startups and certify them. Just like some other certifications, having this certification will increase the credibility of startups when seeking investments.

For a minute, step back and think about how we currently define software engineering. I know many SQL programmers who hold that title. The fact is, a true software engineer with real software engineering skills will probably not be replaced by AI for the next half a century (Predicting anything beyond that is impossible). Many people with software engineer titles will definitely get replaced though. The goal should be to build solutions that can further accelerate the capabilities of true software engineers. If we set that as the benchmark, the number of deception attempts will decrease significantly.

Incidences like Devin’s AI demo, dent the credibility of those who are genuinely working tirelessly to leverage AI to transform the world!