Will Data Scientists and Software Engineers Lose Their Jobs Because of GenAI?

Now that we’ve moved beyond the initial ChatGPT frenzy, with claims that all tech jobs are at risk due to LLMs automating code and model generation, I’d like to share my thoughts on how our roles as data scientists and software engineers might evolve in the near future.
My first point is that LLMs will indeed simplify coding and modeling tasks, but primarily for those who are already professionals in the field. You still need to possess the skills to:

• Translate a business problem into a mathematical model,
• Identify relevant data, and
• Train models and perform inference.
  On the flip side, the need to:
• Write repetitive code, especially for data wrangling, and
• Produce extensive documentation, reports, and visualizations,
  will significantly decrease.
  Therefore, I believe the primary beneficiaries of LLM advancements will be professional data scientists. If we assume these tasks currently account for about half of our workload, and we can now perform them twice as fast, it’s straightforward to project a productivity gain of 33%. How will this benefit be distributed?
• A small part of the economic benefit goes to data scientists with their enhanced capacity to achieve more.
• A larger share will benefit company owners to utilize the same number of data scientists to accomplish more, but
• In a competitive market, most advantages will ultimately benefit the end-user through improved features that are more accessible.

Another notable trend is the widening gap between senior and juniors in data science and software engineering. The demand for senior professionals, who can complement AI capabilities, will increase, and so will the standards for reaching such levels. Traditional skills like leet coding might become less relevant, whereas expertise in architecture, statistics, and modeling will gain value.

Lastly, we’re likely to witness a mindless rush towards AI by many companies. There will be a significant demand for individuals with LLM-related projects or publications listed on their resumes over the next five years.

I’m not an economist, and these are purely my own reflections. No major decisions, whether career-related or otherwise, should be made based solely on this perspective, and I do not assume any responsibility for such decisions.

I’m curious to know which points you agree or disagree with. If you found this post insightful, please share it so others can see and add their comments as well.