# Does a GPT future need software engineers?

- Show: [Oxide and Friends](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends)
- Published: 2023-03-21
- Length: 1h 39m
- Episode: 8
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/34d70bd5

## Summary

Bryan Cantrill, Adam Leventhal, and guests Keith Adams, Ashley Williams, and Jacob discuss the implications of GPT-4 and large language models for software engineering. They analyze the tool's strengths in code generation and debugging versus its hallucinations in niche domains like DTrace, while debating whether AI will replace engineers or serve as a productivity multiplier that lowers barriers to entry for new developers.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=0) Introduction and John Carmack's Sovereign Sharing Debate
- [3:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=224) Personal Experiences with ChatGPT and Prompt Engineering
- [7:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=421) Technical Limitations: DTrace, Hallucinations, and Confidence
- [13:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=785) GPT as a Pair Programmer and Code Review Tool
- [21:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=1266) The Science of LLMs: Emergent Behavior and Context Windows
- [29:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=1741) The Bing/Sydney Incident and AI Anthropomorphism
- [38:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=2331) Historical Parallels: Y2K, Outsourcing, and Jevons Paradox
- [49:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=2960) Building Developer Tools and the Documentation Ouroboros
- [55:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=3315) Philosophy of AI: Ergonomics, Abstraction, and Labor
- [1:25:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers#t=5118) Student Perspective: Learning, Cheating, and Future Optimism

## Topics

- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- GPT-4 (other)
- ChatGPT (other)
- DTrace (tool)
- GitHub Copilot (tool)
- Llama (other)
- Anthropic (company)
- Facebook AI Research (company)
- Webflow (tool)
- John Carmack (other)
- Bing (other)
- Sydney (other)
- Stack Overflow (other)
- Rust (other)
- Julia Evans (other)
- Cloudflare (company)
- WordPress (tool)
- LLVM (tool)
- OpenAI (company)
- Hard Fork (other)
- Ed Yordon (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [S4E43 Kevin Surace | How To Use AI For Engineering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2023-11-10-s4e43-kevin-surace-how-to-use-ai-for-engineering) (Being an Engineer)
- [125. Prompt Engineering: Latest Meme or The Next Big Thing?](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-06-06-125-prompt-engineering-latest-meme-or-the-next-big-thing) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [AI-augmented software development](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2025-06-25-ai-augmented-software-development) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [AI-enhanced Embedded Development (May 2025 Edition)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2025-11-12-ai-enhanced-embedded-development-may-2025-edition) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Crossover with  Embedded AI Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2025-11-18-crossover-with-embedded-ai-podcast) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-03-21-does-a-gpt-future-need-software-engineers. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Oxide and Friends.