Unless you live under a rock, you must be familiar with everything going on with AI at the moment.

Long story short, after the hype around ChatGPT and the GPT3 model, OpenAI released GPT4. The new version of the GPT model generated even more buzz and our Twitter feeds were again filled with AI 🧵.

I saw that opinions were split into those who are excited about AI advancements and those who are terrified that AI will take their jobs.

Today, I want to share with you my opinion on this and also 5 practical ways you can use AI to become a more efficient developer.

Will AI replace Software Engineers?

I don’t have a crystal ball 🔮, but I am quite sure that a lot of things will not be the same in a couple of years, including software engineering. At the same time, I am quite confident that AI will not replace software engineers, but will empower them and make them more efficient at what they already do best.

I remember 5 years ago people were claiming that Webflow, Wix, and other no-code solutions will replace developers, and still… here we are.

At the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that developers who will integrate AI solutions like ChatGPT and Github Copilot in their day-to-day work will become way more efficient. They will be able to deliver the same output in a fraction of the time. In this case, you might be thinking, if a company has 100 engineers, and now with the help of AI, the same work can be done by 70 engineers, will that lead to fewer job opportunities?

That would be true if the amount of work that is needed to be done would be fixed. For example, if a farmer buys machinery that can do the same work as 10 employees, he will probably fire them because he cannot easily create more work for them (he cannot create more land).

With software, there is an abundance of problems in the world that are still untapped that can be solved with software. As long as there will be problems, there will be opportunities, and there will be companies going after them and hiring smart engineers to solve these problems.

In my opinion, the company mentioned above, which can do the same work with just 70 engineers, will increase its profitability and will go after new markets, will expand its impact and besides keeping the extra 30 developers, they will even hire more. It will make economic sense, as they will be able to solve bigger problems, with the same resources with the help of AI.

What should we do?

We should embrace new technologies and we should always think about how they can help us, instead of fearing that they will replace us. “Change is the only constant”, especially in our industry.

Technology doesn’t seem to stop moving forward. There will always be jobs replaced by automation because automation doesn’t need weekends, sick days, or some special treatment. However, at the same time, there will always be new jobs. Higher leverage jobs. Jobs that solve bigger problems. So - there will always be new opportunities for those who are ready to embrace the change.

How can we use ChatGPT to x10 our work?

If you are still reading, that means you are more or less excited about this and are looking forward to how we can use AI to supercharge our dev work.

I started using ChatGPT extensively in my day-to-day work, and I wanted to share with you 5 ways you can use it as well.

1. Write code

ChatGPT can help you write code snippets, functions, and even entire components. Simply provide a clear description of what you want to achieve, and ChatGPT can generate code for you. This can save you time and help you learn new coding techniques.

Preparing for the last week’s live stream I needed a simple, yet attractive UI. Instead of spending an hour coding it, finding dummy data, and making it look pretty, I asked ChatGPT:

“Render a 2-column grid layout of 10 cities in React Native, where each item displays an image relevant to that city and the name of the city. Use publicly accessible images for cities.”

Here is the result

2. Testing

If you are too lazy to write unit tests, you can ask ChatGPT to do them for you.

In one of my projects, I have a reusable button component that can be either primary or secondary.

I asked ChatGPT “write unit tests for the next react native component {{component code}}” and I got “almost” perfectly working unit tests.

3. Debugging and troubleshooting:

When you encounter a bug or error in your code, ChatGPT can be a valuable resource. Describe the issue you’re facing, and the AI can provide suggestions on how to resolve it. This can help you understand mystic error messages, identify the root cause of the problem and get your code working more quickly.

4. Code review and optimization

You can use ChatGPT to review your code for potential improvements, best practices, or adherence to coding standards. Just provide your code snippet and ask for suggestions on how to optimize it or make it more efficient. This can help you improve the quality of your code and learn new techniques.

In one fitness application, I handle a lot of logic inside a global context. I copy&pasted the whole code in ChatGPT and asked it to act as a code reviewer and give me suggestions on how to improve it. It quickly came up with 3 very good suggestions on how I can improve it.

Funny how it acted very polite in the beginning “the file looks good”. Ok, I’ll take that 🥲

5. Brainstorming and ideation:

ChatGPT can be a helpful tool when you need to brainstorm ideas for a new feature or improvement. Describe the problem you’re trying to solve or the goal you want to achieve, and ChatGPT can offer potential solutions or ideas. This can help you explore different approaches and find innovative solutions to your development challenges.

Conclusion

That’s only the tip of the iceberg of how a developer can use ChatGPT to supercharge their skills.

How are you leveraging the power of ChatGPT as a developer?

Hit reply, and let me know. I’m hungry to learn more 🍿

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