I’m a developer, and with all this AI talk, I started to wonder: Can AI write better code than an experienced programmer? Sales terms and benchmarks show that AI can solve existing problems, but can it truly predict and solve real-life challenges?

The release of AI chatbots that can generate code is exciting. With millions of users worldwide, it’s amazing to see how quickly the world is changing through this technology. But it raises another question: Can AI write quality, secure code?

Writing code is one thing; writing code that meets standards and is secure is another. Achieving both in a codebase can be tough.

Can AI really write better code than humans? Moreover, will it replace software engineers?

The short answer, for those reading this blog, is NO. AI will not write clean, secure code. If you’re interested, stay with me as we break down why AI isn’t producing good, clean code.

Struggles of AI

Ai Struggles to write clean amd secure code due to multiple reasons and factors, The complexity of writing cleaning code.

Contextual Understanding:

The reality of AI is that AI does not have deep Understanding of contenctual insight that human have, which means they may miss the nuances needed for high-quality, clean and secure code.

Code Quality & Standaerds

Clean code involves readability, simplicity, and modularity, all of which are influenced by coding practices, style guides, and conventions specific to different languages or projects. While AI can mimic style patterns seen in its training data, it lacks the ability to consistently apply these standards creatively or adaptively, especially in complex, real-world applications.

Security Challenges:

Writing secure code requires awareness of potential vulnerabilities (like SQL injection, cross-site scripting, etc.) and implementing secure design patterns. AI can learn some secure coding practices from its training data, but it may overlook less common vulnerabilities or fail to adapt to new security threats without retraining.

Training Data Limitations:

AI models like large language models are trained on vast amounts of code, but this data includes both good and bad examples, so AI can inadvertently generate code with vulnerabilities or poor practices. The AI’s “understanding” of code quality is only as good as the examples it has seen.

Dynamic Requirements:

Real-world coding often involves changing requirements and a collaborative review process, both of which are critical for ensuring clean, secure code. AI lacks the ability to engage in this iterative, human-centric review process, which helps catch errors, optimize, and secure code.

Will AI Replace Programmers?

AI won’t replace programmers. But AI is already helping developers to write code. AI-powered coding assistants like ChatGPT, Github, CoPilot, and OpenAI Codex are accessible tools that help embedded developers write better code faster. AI code generators can now quickly generate high-quality code snippets, identify issues and defects, and suggest improvements to code snippets. Of course, it will take time before AI will be able to create actual, production-worthy code that spans more than a few lines.

Here’s how AI will impact software development in the near future.

Generative AI Will Improve

It will become effective at automating tasks and helping developers understand their options. And it will then let the human decide how to optimize for circumstances beyond AI’s understanding.

AI Will Become a Coding Partner

Software developers will use AI as a coding pair to write better software. This is already happening today and will continue to rise in popularity as AI learns to write more than a few lines of code at a time. Developers will include AI pair programmer tools within their IDEs. Similar to human paired programming, the AI tool will perform coding tasks based on prompts, and then the developer will review the code. In the past, this process was more labor intensive, but AI tools can perform certain parts of their SDLC faster than a human developer, freeing the developer to focus on more complex tasks.

But Programmers Will Remain Important

The true value of a programmer is not knowing how to build it. The value is in knowing what to build.

It will take even longer before AI learns how to interpret the business value of each feature and advise you what to develop first. There will always be a role for the human programmer.

What If AI Writes Reliable Code?

That’s a big if. Most humans can’t write reliable code. And AI is just an application that analyzes vast amounts of human-written code. So, it’s unlikely that AI will write reliable code.

Most programmers agree. In a recent survey by CodeSignal, 1,000 developers worldwide were asked about their use of AI coding assistant tools. While 81% of developers said that they use AI-powered coding assistants, 55% of software engineers surveyed said that they had concerns about the quality of the AI-generated code.

So, AI isn’t the answer to improving code quality.

Role of Human Software Engineers in the Future

As the AI wave surges forward, you might wonder about the fate of human software engineers. Fear not, for the future is bright and brimming with possibilities! While ChatGPT is a coding whiz, it still bows to the prowess of human developers in certain domains. The significance of coding goes beyond mere syntax and algorithms; it’s about the art of transforming ideas into functional masterpieces.

In this tech-powered future, human software engineers will rise as architects of innovation, crafting solutions beyond the scope of AI. They’ll champion creativity, adaptability, and problem-solving, deftly navigating the ever-changing landscape of technology. So, fear not, developers of humankind, for your role in the AI era is secure and vital.

Conclusion:

Here’s the answer you’ve been looking for: No, AI does not write clean and secure code. There are reasons for this, as explained above. However, AI is here to stay, and it’s best to embrace this future. Use AI tools to improve software quality, but don’t rely on them too heavily. Over-dependence on these tools can erode your skills before you realize it. To read more on this, check out my other blog post: My Love & Hate Relationship with Copilot.