AI and Software Development in 2024

AI and software development. Where do we start? Artificial intelligence has significantly impacted the software development industry so far and is showing no signs of slowing down, and the role of software developers is adjusting swiftly with it.

So, with innovations occurring left, right, and centre, you may be wondering what’s next for software developers with AI and how this could impact your business and employees’ roles. After all, AI isn’t just for improving the customer experience – it’s also leading the way in internal processes.

In this article, we’re here to explore how the relationship between software development and AI could develop in future. Let’s jump right in!

How Can AI be Used in Software Development?

When it comes to AI and software development, we have already witnessed innovative ways in which it is streamlining work processes, including:

1. Code generation

Unsurprisingly, AI is being used to create code based on existing data examples and patterns. Furthermore, it can optimise this code by detecting inefficient parts and suggesting improvements to improve the code quickly without the mundane manual work.

While this is a fantastic advancement for software developers, we advise not to depend on AI only for code generation. Always ensure a human programmer checks over the code, as AI is not infallible and can make mistakes.

2. Code summarisation

Blending artificial intelligence tools with manual tests means most of the code gets covered. Furthermore, AI can also carry out A/B testing on two different versions of a program in order to figure out the most efficient solution.

Once the testing comes to an end, AI can rapidly create grammatically-sound documentation for software developers to use and identify any problems in their current work.

3. Code error detection

AI has the power to analyse code and detect vulnerabilities. Machine learning techniques can be leveraged to learn from previous test results, predicting code parts which are likelier to contain potential bugs. This can massively aid software developers in detecting and correcting bug issues earlier on in the development process, resulting in higher-quality software and boosting your company’s reputation. 

4. Developer focus shift

The fantastic thing about AI in software development is its ability to streamline coding processes. It can make corrections to code and suggestions for specific lines of code, allowing software developers to save time and focus on more creative coding parts instead and explore new strategies.

5. Skills gap bridge

With AI in play, those who aren’t software developers can now contribute to the development process. AI can take care of code generation and other difficult projects, meaning less-experienced staff can use AI to help them pursue more complicated tasks.

This helps workers grow their capabilities, knowledge, and skills in the long run. Remember, humans can learn from AI as much as AI can learn from humans.

6. Planning assistance

Who doesn’t want an automated little helper to back up informed decisions and tell you whether a new strategy is worth pursuing? AI can provide the solution here, evaluating your previous projects, collecting data on your resources, and making data-driven recommendations for new strategies and projects.

Once you’ve allocated your different resources, AI can help you predict outcomes and guide your strategy. It can use data to update deadlines, budgets, workflows, and assigned roles.

What Are the Benefits of AI in Software Development?

So, what opportunities does AI hold in this industry? Check out some potential beneficial ways in which AI can be used in software development:

• Freed up time

Software developers are now able to automate some mundane tasks to elevate their overall efficiency, productivity, and engagement at work. Let’s look at a few examples. Other can code generation, AI tools can also create code snippets and help with bug fixing, which can reduce time spent on repetitive or tedious tasks and help developers concentrate their efforts on more complicated and crucial tasks day to day.

• Better code quality

With AI-powered tools by your side, you have the power to analyse code for possible code issues and vulnerabilities, which you can then work on fixing. This can boost the overall code quality and decrease the time developers need to spend debugging.

• Reduced costs

By automating mundane tasks and enhancing overall efficiencies, AI tools can help cut development costs in your organisation. The good news here is that you can allocate your budget to other core business aspects.

• Improved collaboration and learning

AI tools can facilitate enhanced team communication by summarising discussions, tracking relevant changes, and integrating with project management tools.

With this easy access, AI can then be used as an educational tool, in which software developers can learn from it and pick up on higher-quality suggested code snippets and frameworks.

• Encouraged creativity

While AI takes care of your organisation’s mundane tasks, your software developers have the freedom to get stuck into more innovative and creative procedures.

What’s more, AI can also provide a helping hand in brainstorming processes by supplying new approaches and ideas, sparking further inspiration amongst teams.

How Will AI be a Challenge in Software Development?

Despite having many advantageous opportunities in software development, AI is not without its risks. When using AI, software developers must be wary of:

• Dependency

Because of how valuable AI can be in software development, software developers may run the risk of becoming too dependent on its suggestions. This could potentially deplete software developers’ problem-solving, coding, and other skills over time. Furthermore, if your organisation loses access to artificial intelligence, this could severely disrupt workflows, leading to lost resources and time.

• Bias

Software developers should consider the ethical issues of using AI. Because AI is trained on existing data, bias could be an issue here when it comes to presenting outcomes. This means that developers need to ensure that AI models are inclusive and train them on a variety of data sources with ongoing monitoring and, of course, ensure everything created or edited by AI is run past a human.

• Transparency

The lack of transparency about how AI makes decisions in software development may spark ethical questions about accountability. To correct this, software developers should try to generate explainable AI models that offer clear insights into their decision-making procedures.

• Mistakes happen

Despite AI’s benefits in software development, it can sometimes make mistakes – just like in any other industry. This means that the suggestions it produces may sometimes be inaccurate, causing the need for precise scrutiny by software developers. Errors can result in flawed software, which means they must be corrected.

This may waste developers’ time, which could be better spent focusing on more complex and creative processes.

• Complex contexts

While fantastic in generic contexts, AI models may be challenged by understanding more complicated contexts focused on specific projects. This could result in less valuable suggestions.

• Data security weaknesses

AI has always raised concerns regarding data security and privacy, which is no different in software development. Fresh and innovative attack methods the exploit software vulnerabilities could trick AI systems into giving private data away, adversely adjusting its models, or being susceptible to model theft.

Will AI Replace Software Developer Jobs?

With the advent of the AI era, many professionals have been nervous that artificial intelligence could be capable of taking over their roles, including software developers. So, will AI replace software developer jobs?

Despite AI’s vast benefits and capabilities in this field, we believe this is unlikely. Instead, AI’s handy utilisations, like code generation and automation, could instead allow software developers to concentrate on more complex and creative aspects of their role. This could include creating innovative business strategies, solving complicated problems, and creating advanced user experiences.

AI still makes mistakes, so teams can still be leveraged to work on complex code, review AI’s performance, and apply specific organisational knowledge. Furthermore, AI demands inputs in order to generate outputs, which means human developers need to offer the right data and prompts to get results.

We think the road to success here involves discovering the right balance between AI’s marvellous efficiency and humans’ clear creativity. The best businesses will continue to blend the two together to leverage the strengths of both to make up for each of their weaknesses.

How Will AI Change Software Development and Applications in the Future?

As mentioned above, we believe creating the most effective outcomes comes with blending the strengths of AI and humans. Software developers who utilise AI in the right way – as a tool – whilst continuing to offer their unique problem-solving skills, will begin to rise to the top in this industry.

It’s likely that AI will start to handle the majority of basic coding tasks, software developers will shift towards more complex problem-solving and high-level strategy planning to move organisations forward.

In Need of AI and Software Development Services?

If you’re looking to integrate AI and software development into your business, look no further than our experienced team, who can assist you in all things tech. Whether it’s creating AI assistants or working with your internal team to explain how Large Language Models work, McKenna Consultants is ready to help your company level up.

Our software development company stays ahead of the game when it comes to AI, with our experts knowing how to collaborate efficiently with advanced technologies and implement AI development services for maximum efficiency.

Don’t forget to check out our full range of services,  and get in touch for more information.