Engineers usually think so. After spending some time with GitHub Copilot, as annoying as it is, I think we've got a decade, max, before the lower 3/4 of the software development trade is rendered unnecessary.
I was using the word prove colloquially. That many professions are being automated is a given, and with NN people are trying extra hard to automate knowledge work that requires more trade-like knowledge than theoretical knowledge, like paraprofessionals and functionaries with domain knowledge. Recent developments in software lead me and many others to believe the automation of utilitarian development jobs is impending. Even Forbes thinks so and I guarantee you they hadn't seen GitHub Copilot when this article came out:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/02/23/11...
So, given that enough industry analysts believe development will be heavily automated to make top-10 lists, and recent developments provide even stronger evidence (copilot writes better comments on existing code than my coworkers,) can someone providence a strong a priori argument or maybe even empirical evidence that utilitarian software development is somehow uniquely immune to this?
Instead, it feels more like the end of “data science as the sexiest job of the 21st century”.
DS is mostly running reports (so BI) or stats (perennially important niche) or manufacturing hype via “latest research”.
Engineering has been, is, and will continue to be the foundation for success.