Is Prompt Engineering the NEW Software Engineering?

Summary

The president of Nvidia predicts that AI will soon enable 'programming languages' using natural human prompts, reducing the need to manually code. However, software engineering roles will persist by leveraging these AI tools. 'Prompt engineering' is emerging to craft effective prompts for AI systems. Prompt engineers require AI expertise to ensure quality outputs. Rather than replacing programmers, AI will transform how software engineers work - integrating new tools like automated documentation and code generation assistants. Continuous learning will be key to keep pace with rapid advancements.

Takeaways

• 🔴 Jensen Huang, Nvidia's co-founder, suggests that future computing technologies will not require traditional programming, aiming for human language to be the new programming language.
• 📝 The concept of 'everyone being a programmer' is highlighted as a transformative impact of AI, democratizing programming skills.
• 🛠️ Despite the transformative potential of AI, the speaker encourages viewers not to be discouraged about learning to code, citing personal experiences and the enduring value of coding skills.
• 📌 The video aims to demystify concerns about AI replacing software engineering by emphasizing the evolution and integration of roles rather than replacement.
• 👨‍💻 Prompt engineering is introduced as a growing field focused on designing effective AI interactions, requiring a blend of machine learning knowledge and industry expertise.
• 💡 The importance of specialized knowledge in prompt engineering is underscored, particularly in fields like healthcare, where industry-specific insights are crucial.
• 📦 Four core responsibilities of prompt engineers are outlined: designing effective prompts, refining and optimizing these prompts, customizing for specific needs, and monitoring outputs.
• 📱 AI's impact on software engineering is already evident in areas like code assistance, debugging, documentation automation, and ideation for problem-solving.
• 🤖 The narrative suggests a future where software engineering and prompt engineering roles increasingly overlap, with AI tools becoming integral to the workflow.
• 🖥 Jensen Huang emphasizes the importance of embracing generative AI tools for upskilling, predicting a delightful and surprising upskilling process.
• 📰 The conclusion posits that while software and prompt engineering roles will merge, there will always be distinct and valuable places for both in the tech ecosystem.

Q & A

What did the president and co-founder of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, say at the World Government Summit about programming?

He said that everyone, especially kids, should learn how to code. However, he then went on to say that it is technology's job to create systems that no one needs to program, and that the new programming language will be human language via AI.

What is a prompt engineer and what is their role?

A prompt engineer focuses on creating and designing prompts to provide to AI models to instruct them to generate desired outputs. Their role involves designing effective prompts, refining and optimizing prompts, customizing prompts for specific needs, and monitoring AI outputs.

How has AI already started impacting software engineering roles?

AI is already being used to provide code assistants, help with debugging and code reviews, automate documentation, and provide new approaches for solving complex engineering problems.

Will prompt engineering completely replace software engineering?

No, at least not in the foreseeable future. Prompt engineering and software engineering will likely merge more closely together over time, with software engineers utilizing more AI tools, but software engineering roles will continue to exist.

Why does the author believe prompt engineering will not immediately replace software engineering?

The shift is happening gradually, not overnight. Software engineers will need to implement AI tools into their workflows rather than be fully replaced. And there will always be some need for traditional software engineering.

What does the script say is important for people to learn related to AI?

The Nvidia CEO said it's important for people to learn how to use generative AI tools. As these tools advance, it will be vital for people across roles to upskill in using them.

What is the most important takeaway according to the author?

The most important takeaway is to focus on continuous learning and skill development rather than panicking over AI advancement and replacement fears.

Why does the author believe software engineering roles will change over time?

As prompt engineering and generative AI continue to advance, software engineering roles will need to adapt to utilize these new tools as part of their workflows. So the nature of software engineering will evolve.

What fields beyond software engineering might prompt engineering merge with?

The author believes prompt engineering has the potential to merge with many different professional roles beyond just software engineering in the future.

What tone does the author take regarding AI advancement?

The author aims to remain neutral and objective regarding AI advancement. They acknowledge the rapid pace but avoid reacting with panic or discouragement.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Will prompt engineering replace software engineering?

This paragraph discusses recent comments from Nvidia's CEO stating that AI will allow everyone to become a programmer, eliminating the need to manually code. It explains why this is concerning for those learning to code now, but argues coding skills will still be valuable. It emphasizes the need to adapt to advancing tech rather than resist change.

05:01

😊 Roles and responsibilities of a prompt engineer

This paragraph outlines the key roles and skills of a prompt engineer. This includes designing effective prompts, refining and optimizing them through testing, customizing prompts for different industries and use cases, and monitoring model outputs. It explains prompt engineers need specialized domain knowledge in their field of application along with AI/ML expertise.

Keywords

💡prompt engineering

Prompt engineering is the practice of designing and optimizing prompts to provide as inputs to AI models in order to get desired outputs. It is becoming an increasingly important role as AI continues to advance. The video discusses whether prompt engineering will replace software engineering.

💡software engineering

Software engineering is the practice of designing, developing, and maintaining software applications. The video explores whether advancements in AI and prompt engineering will make software engineering obsolete.

💡Jensen Huang

Jensen Huang is the co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, a major technology company. He made recent comments predicting that programming languages will be replaced by natural language provided by humans to AI models.

💡generative AI

Generative AI refers to AI systems that can generate new content like text, images, video, etc rather than just analyze existing data. The video states that learning how to use generative AI tools will be vital even for software engineers.

💡code assistants

Code assistants are AI systems like GitHub Copilot that can provide suggestions or even generate code automatically to help software developers. They demonstrate how AI is already impacting software engineering roles.

💡continuous learning

As technology rapidly advances, continuous learning to keep up with new developments will be critical even for experienced software engineers. The video advises being open to learning rather than resistant.

💡debugging

Debugging refers to detecting and fixing errors and issues in software code. AI tools are now being developed that can automatically debug code, demonstrating one way AI may transform software engineering.

💡documentation

Documentation refers to text descriptions of how software applications work to help users and developers understand the code. AI tools can now automatically generate documentation, replacing a tedious manual task for engineers.

💡algorithm design

Algorithms refer to the step-by-step instructions for computers to execute tasks. The video states that AI can now suggest new approaches or algorithms to solve complex coding problems that previously required extensive human analysis.

💡upskilling

Upskilling refers to learning new skills or expanding one's skillset. As AI progresses, upskilling to learn how to use AI tools will be critical even for seasoned software engineers according to the video.

Highlights

Jensen Huang said everyone is now a programmer with the miracle of AI

We are coming into a period of rapid tech advancement that is outpacing humans

You need to not get comfortable in your skills but continue to evolve

Prompt engineering focuses on designing prompts to instruct AI models

Prompt engineers need strong machine learning and AI backgrounds

Prompt engineers also tend to specialize within an industry

The roles of a prompt engineer: design prompts, refine them, customize them, monitor outputs

AI assistants can now write code, debug it, generate documentation, and solve problems

Software engineers will need to implement AI tools into their workflows

It's important for people to learn how to use generative AI

Prompt and software engineering roles will likely merge closer together over time

There will always be a place for software engineers and prompt engineers

Being open to continuous learning is most important, not freaking out

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Leave comments with questions or topics you want covered

Transcripts

is prompt engineering really going to

take over software engineering well for

one thing the president and co-founder

of Nvidia says this is going to happen

Okay let me explain Jensen Huang who is

the president and co-founder of Nvidia

recently went on to the world government

Summit in Dubai and here's what he said

he said that his statement that he was

about to share is what most tech

influential people have said over the

last 10 or 15 years which is that

everyone especially kids should learn

how to code so here's what he said

though he goes on to say it is our job

to create Computing technology that

nobody has to program and that the

programming language is human then he

goes on to say everyone in the world is

now a programmer this is the miracle of

AI all right before we dive into this

topic further and really break down is

software engineering getting replaced by

prompt engineering make sure to hit the

Subscribe button for more Tech future

Tech Career all the above topics and

leave in the comments any other

questions or topics you want me to cover

all right now let's get into

it this this is a really bold statement

to make and I think a lot of people if

you are someone who is learning to code

or just getting into Tech it will feel

very discouraging because of this

statement I mean I know for myself when

I was learning how to code I was doing

so during the boom of coding if you will

meaning it was just endless

opportunities and possibilities with

this skill and it was one of the hardest

things I had to learn but it was so

rewarding now to see that this skill is

something that might not be learned or

as valuable or people don't out as to

people don't look up as this really

great skill it really brings a lot of

different emotions my way now I'm going

to keep my emotions out of this video

and really dive into the facts so if you

are someone who is learning how to code

getting into Tech or maybe you are an

engineer this video is for you now let's

start off with the obvious Jensen is not

the first individual especially of a

high caliber to be sharing these

statements but for some reason this time

it felt different I've heard a lot of

these statements before from other CEOs

of how AI is going to take over

programming and and I never really paid

much attention to it but this statement

from him I think it's because it feels

so different because we are at a time

where we can see that this could become

a reality now here's the thing I don't

want this video to dissuade anyone or

discourage anyone from learning to code

there is going to be some really great

opportunities for you still if you are

in that boat but what I think is a

bigger question here and what we really

should look at rather than should you

learn how to code anymore or should you

not learn how to code anymore is what

this re the bigger picture here let's

take a step back

I was going to take a step back

literally but the chair is in the way

and really say see what exactly does

this mean well for one thing it means we

are coming into a period of time that's

never been done in history before where

technology is advancing quicker than we

can keep up with it we are not able to

keep up on a daily basis with the tech

advancements anymore as human so yes

that can sound a little bit scary on one

hand but on the other hand what it

really is showing is you need to not be

comfortable in your current role in your

current skill sets but being open to

continue to evolve all right Tiff can

you just cut to the chase is prompt

engineering going to replace software

Engineers no it's not at least not for

the foreseeable future but things are

going to change drastically and I mean

we already see this with how much now we

are using AI in our daily lives when

coding think of tools like co-pilot or

different even chat GPT when you are

coding you are now able to go into these

artificial intelligent chatbots and ask

for help get suggestions at a quicker

rate than ever before let's start though

by breaking down what exactly is a

prompt engineer at its core prompt

engineering focuses on creating and

designing prompts that are given to AI

models I mean we always talk about chat

GPT to really instruct them to have the

desired outputs so why is this role

important I think at first it was really

laughed at is oh this role is going to

come and go but the more we grow with AI

the more we can realize that this role

is here to stay and becoming more and

more important what sets prompt

Engineers apart well for one thing a lot

of prompt Engineers have a very very

strong background in machine learning or

artificial intelligence they are aware

of how these models operate how it will

affect them what they input into these

models based on what they output and get

and they're very knowledgeable in that

area now that's not saying you have to

have knowledge around machine learning

or AI to become a prompt engineer but at

some level you do need to start diving

into it the other thing about prompt

Engineers is depending on what company

they are working for they usually are

Specialists within that industry so for

example prompt engineering is something

that is widely used within the health

industry and if you are a prompt

engineer working in health and trying to

diagnose someone or have some

understanding as to what ailments they

have you need to also have an

understanding as to the health side of

this industry you can't just be this

technical person okay so here is the

role of a prompt engineer broken down

pretty simply for you so one you have to

design effective prompts two refine and

optimize so continuously test and refine

your prompts to ensure you're getting

the best output number three is

customized for special needs so

tailoring prompts to fit particular

projects or Industries this is kind of

what we spoke to a little bit earlier

that you need to be to some degree an

expert in that field and number four is

Monitor outputs so ensure that the

outputs are what is expected that the AI

model isn't hallucinating and there

isn't anything else weird going on there

all right so let's take a look at how

artificial intelligence has already

impacted software engineering well for

one thing we mentioned earlier now we

have code assistants so we have things

such as co-pilot who will now write out

entire entire functions entire files for

for you or with you the next is

debugging and code review now we have

tools that can help you debug and also

review your code which is super helpful

if you are someone who is working on a

team next up we have tools to automate

documentation I mean aut documentation

is probably one of the worst parts of

software engineering in my opinion

anyway who wants to deal with the

documentation but having AI to help

write documentation for you based on

your code is a game changer one of the

tools I actually used I quite a while

ago and love not sponsored just shouting

them out is swim so swim will actually

help generate documentation based on

your files in your GitHub which is it's

really cool anyway so that's already

exist too next is ideation and problem

solving so providing new approaches or

algorithms for solving complex problems

I mean what is left for programmers we

just went through everything that AI can

do the reality is even if prompt

engineering takes over software

engineering which let's do a side note

here doesn't mean software engineering

doesn't exist we're not having that

conversation of course it's going to

exist say prompt engineering does grow

and become more in demand than a role

like software Engineers the reality is a

if you are a software engineer growing

into a prompt engineering role or even

staying in your software engineering

role it will just start looking

different over time we are in the weeds

with this we're not going to see this

happen directly overnight although it

does feel like it's happening very

quickly it's more so being able to use

these AI tools implement it into your

workflow and you are going to be fine

going back to what the president and

co-founder of Nvidia said he also goes

on to say that it's important for people

to learn how to use generative AI so it

will be vital that we upskill everyone

and the upskilling process I will be

delightful and surprising he's very

optimistic but to his point it is going

to be more and more vital that we

continue to get more comfortable with

these generative AI tools versus saying

we are too good for them we're not going

to use them the reality is they are here

and they are here to stay okay so cut to

the chase is prompt engineering going to

over take software engineering there

will always be a place for software

engineers and there will always be a

place for prompt Engineers but I do see

that these two roles will merge closer

and closer together I mean prompt

engineering will merge with many

different roles and I do believe

software engineering is one of them all

right I'm curious to hear do you agree

with my thoughts do you disagree I try

and stay pretty neutral on this because

the reality is we don't know what we

don't know and the most important

takeaway is being open to continuous

learning and not freaking out like that

Meme where

the dog is standing with a cup and

everything's blowing up around him all

right thank you all for watching and

make sure to hit that subscribe button

for more Tech future Tech news all of

the above and I'll see you soon thanks

[Music]

everyone