Will AI replace programmers?

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IBM has unveiled two AI-based tools whose purpose is to recode old applications to work on modern platforms. According to Nick Fuller, of IBM Research, these tools are a first step towards a time when AI could, for example, automatically translate a COBOL program into Java. The first tool, called Mono2Micro, analyzes old Java code to reveal all the hidden connections within it that application architects would find extremely difficult and time consuming to uncover on their own. Once Mono2Micro ingests the code, it analyzes the source and object code both statically (analyzing the program before it runs) and dynamically (analyzing the program while it’s running). The tool then refactors monolithic programs into microservices, changing the application’s structure without altering its external behavior. The second tool is the Application Modernization Accelerator (AMA), which analyzes and refactors legacy applications written in very old languages, like COBOL or PL/I. But developers can rest easy that their future is not on the line; we are still far from the type of AI that could actually ideate and code an application from A to Z. And AI is more than welcome to take over tedious, labour-intensive tasks like code refactoring.

⇨ IEEE Spectrum, Dexter Johnson, “AI recodes legacy software to operate on modern platforms.”

2021-02-24