OpenAI CEO Sam Altman estimates that AI is doing up to 50% of programming work in some companies, causing a sharp decline in the demand for programmers.
In an interview with Stratechery, Sam Altman spent a lot of time talking about the shift in demand for programmers in the coming period. He emphasized that learning how to work with AI will be key to staying relevant in a rapidly changing technology landscape.
The OpenAI chief compared learning to master AI tools today to learning programming skills when he was younger. “It’s like when I graduated from high school, it was a given that you had to be really good at programming. And now it’s the new version of that. The given now is you have to be really good at AI tools,” Altman said. He believes this is the key point that will give workers a long-term advantage as things move further towards automation.
CEO OpenAI Sam Altman. Photo: CNN
The idea of AI gradually replacing programmers is supported by many leaders in the industry. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, recently predicted that AI could generate up to 90% of common code within the next six months. OpenAI’s product manager, Kevin Weil, also believes that by the end of this year, AI could surpass humans in programming.
Explaining the remarkable development of artificial intelligence, Mr. Kevin Weil said that GPT-o1 is already capable of reaching the level of 2-3% of the 30-40 million programmers in the world. Meanwhile, GPT-o3 is in the top 175 of the best programmers. Weil is confident that by 2025, AI will completely surpass humans in the field of programming according to competitive indicators.
Altman supports these views, asserting that the role of AI in programming has increased significantly. He also mentioned the concept of “Programming Agents,” an advanced form of automation where AI can take on a larger role in creating complex code. The OpenAI CEO is optimistic about the potential, although he admits that current models still need to be refined before reaching this stage of perfection.
For students entering the profession, Altman advises focusing on broad skills such as adaptability and self-improvement, which he believes will be valuable in a time when the technology industry is changing so quickly. He also emphasizes the need to familiarize yourself with new technologies and methods, leveraging AI, rather than just mastering specific technical skills.
The OpenAI CEO said that software engineers are still in demand, but the demand for this type of human resource will certainly decrease in the future as AI becomes more capable. “Each programmer can do more, but over time we may need fewer of them,” he said. Altman said the replacement of programmers by AI will not happen suddenly, but will accelerate gradually. He described it as a process that starts slowly, affecting small areas but eventually spreads across industries.
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