Web Development under Artificial Intelligence

Lately, Artificial Intelligence has been making waves across fields ranging from automobiles to government services. Given the strides the technology has made, it is safe say that that AI is no more an emerging technology but very much on progress and growing. While it has virtually limitless applications for different industries, what does it mean for web development? Is AI in that stage where it can design applications and be a potential threat to developers? Currently, AI has restricted applications within which it can pretty much enhance the web development functions like basic facial recognition, keyword identification and so on. In this blogpost, we will see how and whether AI can make a significant impact in the web development world in the near future.

So, is it possible for Artificial Intelligence to ever don and execute the role of a web developer?

Clients hire a programmer to develop websites and interactive applications for their business. More often than not, this requires a stringent adherence to deadlines and satisfying key project requirements. In this kind of web development, web developers typically work on similar kind of projects, gather expertise in it and master the same over a period of time – the uncertainties and imagination levels are low. Within this context also, AI, at the best can enhance the work of the developer by bringing about efficiency and effectiveness, attributed to its machine level accuracy.

For example, consider the task of displaying media based on hashtags. AI can easily achieve this collating all the similar hashtags posted by users across the world and display the same for other people looking for such hashtags on multiple devices – efficiency and effectiveness on point.

However, this is far from the real and big picture. This is because Artificial Intelligence can never be used as a substitute for human beings, let alone design like them. Why? There is no machine in the world as adaptable and complex as the human brain. Human beings perceive their world in different ways, possess different attitudes and opinions and follow different norms. They differ not only between individuals but also across countries and cultures. In addition to that, people have emotions that shape their world views. Designing an AI web developer would need to take into consideration all the above factors which are just too many to even think of. Added to this complexity is the temporal factor – human beings change over time.

Long story short, there are just too many variables to account for, if a dedicated AI system to function as a web developer is to be designed. But perhaps, the biggest constraint in teaching AI is the unique human characteristic of empathy. Every client and project that a developer undertakes is unique, coming with their own scope, expectations, target market, industry scenario, economic viability, brand equity, channels and so on. Therefore, there arises a need to think imaginatively sometimes, which cannot be mimicked by AI, even after accumulating information over several projects. In fact, this becomes the need of the hour in this era of intense online competition and increased visibility and awareness among customers.

Consider the task of bringing maximum number of people to the checkout point in an e-commerce site. Engaging the customer to stay in a website is a challenging task as such. The AI would also need to equip itself to understand the whims and distractive mind of customers. Beyond this, it needs to implement optimal and humanistic solutions in the face of untoward crises. These are all outside the purview of Artificial Intelligence.

Do you think AI is as capable as a professional web developer? Share us your thoughts below. For further queries, contact our team at HireIndianProgrammers.