Allie K. Miller

I'm usually not one to forecast the future, but I'm genuinely shocked to see entry-level roles in software engineering and data science facing the threat of extinction.
 
 These individual roles, which completely rely on technical expertise, face a significant threat from automation. Just a year ago, this scenario was hard to imagine.
 
 Consider this: Individual contributors are often managed by a technical lead in a project. What's to stop the tech lead from relying on a team of AI agents instead of junior developers? There are already tools for this (like sweep(.)dev). Companies, looking to cut costs, will be closely monitoring these developments.
 
 What about data scientists? The major cloud platforms are heavily investing in tools that enable anyone to perform advanced data analysis, including deep learning, using just plain language and drag-and-drop data. 
 
 Why would companies invest heavily in skilled data scientists when they could achieve similar results with a data analyst proficient in generative AI tools for cleaning and analyzing data, and for training and deploying models?
 
 It’s a somewhat depressing thought, but it's a reality we can no longer ignore. Niche technical expertise is being automated out of existence.
 
 I strongly believe future roles will require a combination of skills and knowledge from disparate fields to stay relevant. These roles may even become more creative.
 
 For instance, a software engineer at a fintech startup will need knowledge of financial instruments and UI design, in addition to software development skills.
 
 Similarly, a healthcare data scientist will need to understand human physiology and have wet lab experience, along with machine learning expertise.
 
 I wouldn’t be surprised if the technical knowledge required for today’s entry-level roles becomes a 'good-to-have' for more generalist positions. 
 
 If you’re planning to focus solely on solving Leetcode or Kaggle problems in 2024, it might be wiser to consider broadening your skills across disparate domains to remain relevant.