Will AI replace Software Engineers? Do not hold your breath

Abhik Roychoudhury; Andreas Zeller

doi:10.48550/arxiv.2502.20429

February 27, 2025Open Access

Will AI replace Software Engineers? Do not hold your breath

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Key Points

LLMs may assist in coding but are not capable of software maintenance, which is essential.
The software engineering industry involves reliability and maintenance, areas that LLMs struggle with.
AI technology is advancing, but it currently cannot replace the complexities of software engineering.
As LLMs evolve, the human role in maintaining trustworthy software will likely become even more critical.

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Implication

This analysis finds that despite advancements in LLMs, maintaining software remains crucial, suggesting AI won't fully replace engineers.

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology such as Large Language Models (LLMs) have become extremely popular in creating code. This has led to the conjecture that future software jobs will be exclusively conducted by LLMs, and the software industry will cease to exist. But software engineering is much more than producing code -- notably, maintaining large software and keeping it reliable is a major part of software engineering, which LLMs are not yet capable of.

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Cite This Study

Roychoudhury et al. (2025) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/68ecc715d1cc7436f7d1888d https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2502.20429

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Will AI replace Software Engineers? Do not hold your breath

Key Points

Ask about this paper

Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

Will AI replace Software Engineers? Do not hold your breath

Key Points

Ask about this paper

Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

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