Will software engineers be replaced by AI? Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, responds

Since ChatGPT was released in 2022, there have been discussions on the possibility that AI would eventually replace humans in employment. Previously thought to be confined to humans, the AI chatbot completed tasks. ChatGPT could write code and compose poetry, among other things. And as time went on, the AI tool’s intelligence increased with each release. With all of this progress in AI, worries also began to surface. While some computer experts expressed optimism, many predicted that AI would eventually replace humans in the workforce.

In his latest interview, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has voiced support for AI technology and its potential to change the human world, said that AI cannot replace human software engineers. He asserted that for artificial intelligence, we will require them. Nikhil Kamath, the founder of Zerodha, talks to Bill Gates in the first edition of Kamath’s podcast, “People by WTF.” Gates and Kamath discussed the former’s early years at Microsoft as well as the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on a number of industries, including software engineering.

AI’s increasing Gates has confidence in the future of software engineering jobs. In successful programmes in the US and India, he emphasised the potential of AI to improve productivity and act as tutors for students. “We know this technology can aid in important areas and even produce educational tutors, which is a wonderful thing.

In response to worries that AI would replace software engineers, Gates called these concerns “alarmist.” Assuring that there will be a continued need for software engineers, he said, “We still need those software engineers, as we are not going to stop needing them.” Those who are concerned that improvements in AI may result in job displacement find solace in this guarantee.

While acknowledging that AI technology could eventually become so advanced as to replace many professions, Gates dismissed the possibility that this could happen in the next 20 years. He acknowledged that there was some ambiguity over the long-term effects of AI on the workforce, arguing that it was a complicated topic that was hard to anticipate with precision.

Apart from AI, Gates and Kamath also discussed other subjects, such as Gates’ unique relationship to India. Recalling with fondness his interactions with India, Gates mentioned that Microsoft employed skilled IT graduates who made a substantial contribution to the company’s achievements. “I’ve had a great relationship with India that began with the Microsoft project, where we brought some highly intelligent IT graduates to Seattle and hired them. Later, they returned and established a development centre for us that currently employs 25,000 people across four locations. Naturally, a large number of the incredible individuals with whom I collaborate and enjoy working so much at Microsoft are on the team that was assembled from India,” he remarked.