GitHub CEO allays job loss fears over AI, says 'smartest' companies to hire more software engineers, not fewer
Contrary to that notion, the GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke believes that the companies that best take advantage of AI won't be using it to replace human labour. Instead, they will increase their hiring of increasingly efficient engineers.
"The companies that are the smartest are going to hire more developers," Dohmke said on an episode of "The Silicon Valley Girl Podcast".
The developer platform CEO's core argument is that AI acts as a multiplier for developers. 'If you 10x a single developer, then 10 developers can do 100x."
This means that with AI tools, engineers become significantly more efficient, allowing a smaller team to achieve more.
AI tools will also make it much easier to learn how to program and simplify the process for those who are already professionals. 'As the technology evolves, so will the capabilities of engineers,' he added.
He mentioned a positive aspect of AI, citing the hurdle of learning coding, especially when you're stuck somewhere, and you have nobody at home or in your family or friends that can help you with that because they're all nontechnical."
"So, when we're saying AI is democratising access, that's what we mean. Everyone who wants to learn it can learn it."
However, he cautioned against the misconception that AI will eliminate the need for professionals.
Though people may be better equipped to leverage coding for personal ends, in the business sphere, a deeper knowledge of the craft will still be required to best utilise AI, the GitHub CEO said.
"I think the idea that AI without any coding skills lets you just build a billion-dollar business is mistaken," he said. "Because if that would be the case, everyone would do it."
While some companies, particularly in the tech industry are currently pausing hiring or conducting layoffs while integrating AI, Dohmke views it as a 'temporary effect'.
'This is the natural conclusion for the short term, we keep things stable and we're trying to figure out how the market develops," Dohmke said.
'But very quickly, I think we're going to see people that say, 'Well, wait a second, if I have one more productive developer, why wouldn't I hire another one, and another one?'
Dohmke emphasised that there isn't a single company that has completely eliminated developer workloads, even as programmers use AI to move through projects quickly.
"AI has already added more work to the backlogs. I haven't seen companies saying, 'Well, we're draining all our backlog and we have almost nothing left,'" he said.
The CEO also said that it's the "most exciting time" to be a developer. AI is transforming the programming process for the better.
"The dream of software development was always that I can take the idea that I have in my head on a Sunday morning, and by the evening, I have the app up and running on my phone," he said.
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