Editorial
The Gist
- Tech transformation. Generative AI significantly enhances developer productivity.
- Ethical vigilance. Addressing ethical concerns is critical in AI deployment.
- Barrier reduction. Generative AI lowers entry barriers for novice developers.
There is little doubt that generative AI is coming for the world of digital customer experience, and its tentacles will eventually touch every aspect of what we do. While exactly how this will happen is still an open book, it is likely not only to change customer expectations of the digital and brand experiences they want to receive but also to change how we craft and create those experiences.
To date on CMSWire, we’ve mainly focused on what the impact of generative AI will be on the digital marketing teams and related creatives who design sites and create the relevant content. But generative AI will also impact IT professionals and development teams — both front end and back end — involved in the world of digital customer experience.
In this post, I’m going to explore seven ways in which generative AI is impacting the way development teams work with digital customer experience, and the areas that IT professionals need to consider regarding their ways of working.
1. AI Can Boost Developer Productivity
Of course, generative AI will boost developer productivity, and this is already happening. Even back in 2023, 92% of US-based developers were using AI to support their coding, with 70% reporting benefits.
AI generates code, checks for errors and best practices, and can also take less-experienced developers through the steps involved. At Cylogy, the software development company I co-founded, we’ve found it’s particularly good for documenting the code that has been deployed, a valuable but time-consuming activity that is not always carried out as thoroughly as it should be.
All this is good news for the world of digital customer experience with developers simply able to get more done quickly and also to follow through with good practices such as documenting their work.
Related Article: Can Traditional Web Development Survive AI?
2. Considering the AI Risks
But as with marketing copy, AI-generated code also comes with some risks. Although some of these are being ironed out as solutions develop and we all become climatized to better usage, risks still need to be considered. These include:
- Protection of intellectual property with the well-publicized early leak of Samsung source code from using ChatGPT still fresh in people’s minds.
- Erroneous code or coding recommendations caused by “hallucinations.”
- Hackers using generative AI to deliberately spread malicious code sourced by the large language model.
- Some studies have suggested that there are issues with the replication of lower quality code created by quickly cutting and pasting from generative AI that is leading to a more short-term view of development and even leading to “AI technical debt.”
To reduce risks, it’s worth considering:
- Putting in the right guardrails and review processes for AI-generated code.
- Creating guidelines which avoid the use of AI solutions which don’t meet privacy concerns.
- Limiting the use of AI-generated code for more complex use cases.
These risks are becoming easier to manage. And, with the right approaches in place, they should not prevent developers benefitting from the productivity gains generative AI delivers.
Related Article: Will AI Chatbots Make Coders Obsolete?
3. Wider Ethical Concerns
There are also wider concerns around the use of generative AI for unethical purposes that may compromise data privacy, security and regulations, or produce output that is inappropriate or illegal. There are also debates about ensuring there are safeguards in place so AI doesn’t evolve unintentionally in ways that are unethical.
The use of generative AI to create a little bit of code for your website might feel a little removed from the bigger ethical picture, but any use of AI doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s surprisingly easy to stray over into gray areas. Have an ethical framework and commitment that frames the use of generative AI.
Related Article: Generative AI Technologies: Now and in the Future
4. Market Opens to Developers With Less Experience
One positive impact of generative AI is that it potentially opens up the market for developers who can use generative AI to bridge initial gaps in experience they might previously have needed to work with a particular CMS or DXP. For example, experienced Sitecore developers are not always easy to find and can be expensive.
The ability to code more easily potentially lowers the barriers for entry for less experienced developers to gain the foothold they need. Experience can still be important, and we see generative AI not necessarily supplanting the value of that experience; it just helps more developers gain it. Over time, however, the experience acquired on a particular CMS may become less important as generative AI does more and more of the heavy lifting around frontend and backend development.
5. Devs Needs to Be Savvy With Generative AI
“Garbage in, garbage out” is a well-worn saying that is applied to many systems that don’t deliver the right results perhaps because users aren’t entering the right text or prompts to get the best out of a tool. This absolutely holds true for generative AI solutions like ChatGPT where having the right prompts will determine the success of the output.
Developers need to become climatized to using generative AI to get the best out of a tool to support their coding efforts. Many have found that the learning curve is actually pretty modest, but there are always tips and tricks to get the very best value out of a particular AI product.
6. No Code-Low Code Solutions Are Going to Accelerate
The creation of low code-no code solutions, which provide configuration options for non-IT professionals, has been a software development trend for a while. The emergence of generative AI has the potential for the rapid evolution of more no code-low code interfaces that mean digital marketers and business users can achieve more without the help of their IT colleagues. For example, intelligent styling options may require less and less involvement from a frontend developer.
This could change developers' roles in digital customer experience to focus more on oversight and advising on what can be achieved through configuration versus coding. Of course, it also means IT professionals can also use no code-low code options themselves to carry out their work in the most efficient way possible.
7. The AI Market Is Still Evolving at Breakneck Speed
GitHub Copilot already feels like a relatively mature solution, but generative AI continues to evolve at breakneck speed with new and improved large language models (LLMs), emerging products and the introduction of generative AI features into existing solutions. The net impact? A continuation of a rapidly evolving landscape and marketplace involving AI solutions that can generate code and assist IT development.
At Cylogy, we’ve kept an open mind on the best solutions to use and allow our individual developers to use their preferred solution, particularly in these early days. However, we’ll be coming together soon to review where we are and create some solid guidelines around product use, while also continuing to keep an eye on what’s happening in the product space. Any guidelines will likely evolve further.
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Keeping an Eye on Generative AI
Just like every other area of work, generative AI is changing how developers work in the digital customer experience space. The details around this are likely to change — and potentially rapidly — in the coming months and years. It’s vital to keep an eye on the space, take appropriate actions to safeguard against risks but also seize the opportunities that exist.
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