- UC Berkeley sees a 48% surge in computer science applications.
- Experts believe humans will remain central to software development.
- AI and human expertise are expected to work together to build high-quality software.
Students say “hello world!” to computing majors
The University of California Berkeley has witnessed a remarkable 48% increase in first-year applications to its College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) for the Fall 2024 incoming class.
This surge comes amidst concerns that generative AI, such as GitHub Copilot, might diminish the value of studying computer science.
However, the 14,302 applications for CDSS majors, compared to 9,649 the previous year, suggest that students remain eager to pursue careers in computing, proving that the allure of a “Hello World!” program is still as strong as ever.
Humans, the secret recipe in software development
John DeNero, Computer Science Teaching Professor at UC Berkeley and chief scientist at Lilt, believes that many challenging aspects of software development cannot be reliably performed by generative AI at present.
He emphasizes that there will still be a central role for human software developers in the future, particularly when creating novel and innovative solutions.
Generative AI excels at replicating parts of software programs that have been written many times before but requires significant human intervention to produce something new and consequential.
In other words, humans are the secret sauce that keeps the software development kitchen running smoothly.
The dynamic duo of tech, AI and humans
At Lilt, an AI platform for translators, human expert linguists remain at the center of the process, utilizing task-specific generative AI models to enhance their speed, accuracy, and consistency.
DeNero expects a similar pattern to emerge in software development, where a small team of highly trained human developers will have an even greater capacity to build useful, high-quality software by leveraging AI tools.
He believes that future UC Berkeley graduates will have ample opportunities to apply their computing skills to improve the world, proving that the combination of AI and human expertise is a match made in tech heaven.
