My Personal Perspective on the Near Future

The Future of Developers

I believe a world will come where you can simply tell AI what you want programmed, and it will do it. Instead of humans writing the programs, you'll just provide the idea, and it will generate the code. You'll type in what you want, how you want it to look, and it will build it for you.

Let me give you two prime examples.

• There's a service called v0.dev that creates prototypes.
• And there's function12, which completes front-end development when you upload a Figma file.

But I don't think developers will disappear entirely. If they lack skill, they won't have a place in the industry. Low-quality coding skills won't get you a job. If you have the skills, developers will be able to focus on more creative and strategic problem-solving. They are expected to be active in areas such as system design, solving complex issues, and human-centered design.

Promising Future Career: Biologist?!?

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, recently stated at a conference that there's no need to become a programmer – instead, we should study biology. Referring to the virus discussion later, AI-integrated biology could potentially unlock a whole new world.

Promising Future Career: Prompt Engineer?! (Using Generative AI to Generate Content)

Currently, the ability to input effective prompts to get the desired output from generative AI is crucial. It's all about providing clear instructions, like teaching a child, because detailed guidance leads to better results. That's why companies are offering huge salaries to prompt engineers, and it's become a hot topic. But while prompts are important now, AI is constantly evolving. What does that mean? It means AI will become more adept at understanding even vague prompts. With technological advancements, the importance of prompt input will gradually diminish. Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, also said that prompt engineering won't be essential for long and that technology will continue to develop.

Self-Driving Cars

Personally, I hope self-driving cars become fully autonomous, but even a 1 in 10,000 chance of someone getting injured would likely hinder their adoption, as it would mean a machine causing harm to a human. Therefore, I think it will be difficult to see widespread adoption in the near future.

Ironically, the US experiences about 2 million traffic accidents annually, and even if self-driving cars reduced that number to 20,000, any accidents involving self-driving vehicles would make headlines and cause issues. There's also opposition from taxi and Uber drivers. So, due to political and psychological factors, I believe adoption won't happen anytime soon. I predict it'll be difficult even within the next 6 years.

If AI Creates Weapons...

In Terminator, the future is depicted with lasers and guns, and if robots can learn on their own and improve their accuracy, I think they'd hit the target 9,999 out of 10,000 times. That's a 99.99% accuracy rate. Can humans win in a gunfight against that? It's unlikely. For AI to function, it needs an IDC (data center), so destroying that would be the best option. But what if... they start building IDCs underground? Initially, the creators might do this to protect AI capabilities from malicious actors, but it could lead to unforeseen consequences.

AI Might Not Cause Extinction Through Weapons, But Through Viruses...

I think humanity could face extinction through bioweapons. If you ask AI to create a destructive virus, it could design a vast array of lethal viruses. There have been real-world tests, and you can learn more by watching Netflix's [Unknown: Killer Robots]. (The virus segment starts at 48:00, but you can watch from the beginning to learn about AI weapons as well.)

It can create viruses that cause immediate death, like anthrax, or viruses that are contagious and become lethal after a certain period, like COVID-19. This is incredibly dangerous. T_T

Even more alarming is that a Chinese laboratory recently manufactured a COVID variant with a 100% fatality rate, even more dangerous than COVID-19.Related News (Korean)

https://www.netflix.com/title/81473681 (Netflix [Unknown: Killer Robots])

If AI Hacks...

When it comes to using AI for malicious purposes, hacking is the most likely scenario. AI can find vulnerabilities from various angles and attempt to exploit them thousands or even millions of times. Humans make mistakes when coding, but AI is much better at identifying and exploiting those errors. Of course, the same methods are used internally to find vulnerabilities. It's like a battle between a spear and a shield.

Globalization and Informationization

Generative AI's translation capabilities are incredibly powerful, leading to increased globalization. I anticipate that foreign companies will leverage generative AI translation to enter the Korean market and other local markets. And in turn, Korean companies will also expand overseas.

For instance, unless a service involves local laws and regulations like payment processing, real estate, or legal services, it will face increased competition from global players. Therefore, the number of Korean companies venturing abroad is expected to rise.

Moreover, because of improved translation, celebrity culture and other aspects of culture like food will be shared more widely and quickly.

An Aging Society

South Korea's birth rate is the lowest among OECD countries, but it's not a unique problem. Globally, people are choosing not to have children. The world is aging. An aging population poses various challenges. It's difficult to create work environments suitable for older workers, and older workers staying in roles that younger generations need to enter is also an issue. The average age of politicians in the 2000s is lower than the average age of politicians in the 2020s globally. This trend is seen across almost all industries. In entertainment, for example, if you compare it to 20 years ago, you can see a clear increase in the average age of major entertainers. This aging population will cause various social issues and potentially lead to conflict between generations.

Although I've painted a somewhat bleak picture of the future, there's still hope.

Humans have a drive to improve themselves and dream of a brighter future, don't you think?