r/webdev • u/Proud-Confidence7290 • Nov 26 '23

Question Will AI decrease demand and salaries?

Hello everyone.

I am new to web development and it goes well so far.

I'm bit scared of AI development. Let's say you needed 10 developers for a project before ChatGPT and now you need 8.

With the development of AI, we will need even less.

Why do people think AI won't decrease demand and salaries of web developers? It's logic for me, what am I missing?

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u/captain_ahabb Nov 26 '23

Does it matter if the reasons why we need human supervision of air flight and the reasons why we need human supervision of software development are different? My point was merely that automated systems still require human oversight.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '23

Yes it absolutely matters because it affects everything, including the 2 things the OP mentioned: "decrease demand and salaries"

That is exactly why the reasons matter.

Like your whole point is kind of obsolete from the fact that machines took over a lot of manual labor jobs, because those jobs are not critical and only laws and social expectations can salvage that, but unlike flight it wont be 100%.

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u/captain_ahabb Nov 26 '23 edited Nov 26 '23

You're splitting hairs about the second-order reasons though. The first-order reason (the need for human supervision) is the same in both cases, and thus the analogy works. The presence of the need for supervision is the same even if the reasons for that human supervision being needed are not.

Really feel like you're arguing for the sake of arguing here.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '23

Completely disagree and you’re not answering what the OP was asking about. The OP is worried about demand and salaries and your comparison doesn’t work for what the OP is worried about, not even the slightest.

No the need for human supervision for SWE and pilots is not the same, one is a legal requirement, the other is not, that’s as simple and as factual as it gets.

If AI was perfect today at writing code, it would replace humans in a heartbeat, but it won’t replace pilots in the same way an electrician won’t be replaced.

This conversation is pointless, your comparison isn’t good, it doesn’t fit the OPs worry and it has completely different reasoning and context.

Bye