“Humans are allergic to change“ — Grace Hopper
In the late 1950s, a new programming language called COBOL emerged with a bold premise: it would enable people without traditional programming backgrounds — business professionals, managers, and analysts — to directly write and understand code. Its syntax was designed to be as close to English as possible, so that non-developers could, in theory, specify instructions for the computer.
Many experienced programmers of the time found this idea unsettling. If anyone could now “program” in this new language, what would become of them? (If there had been social media back then, we’d have seen those “PROGRAMMING IS DEAD” posts popping up everywhere.)
And yet, COBOL (and similar languages) didn’t eliminate the need for programmers. In fact, it only increased it. Rather than spending all day handling low-level machine code, these engineers could focus on bigger-picture problems. Instead of taking their jobs, it made them more productive.
You see, these programmers quickly realized that their job wasn’t just to type on the keyboard or implement the same low-level algorithms again and again. They saw that their job was to ship working software that adds real value to users.
COBOL is just one example. Don’t even get me started on Object-Oriented Programming or Low Code/No Code platforms — every time these “threats” showed up, people worried the need for skilled engineers would vanish. But guess what? It never happened.
You’re probably seeing where I’m going with this, but yeah: AI. Just as these earlier waves of change never replaced the human element in engineering, AI won’t either. By offloading repetitive tasks, AI frees us to focus on what matters most: understanding user needs, making smart product decisions, and delivering real value — faster than ever.
It’s worth repeating: the heart of our profession isn’t in typing lines of code; it’s in shipping software that truly helps people.
We’ve seen this pattern before, and we’ll see it again. New tools change the landscape, but they don’t diminish the role of the human mind. Our capacity to think critically, empathize with users, and create working solutions will always remain essential — no matter how advanced our tools become.