A senior research scientist at Google DeepMind has pushed back against the growing narrative that ‘coding is dead’ due to advances in AI. Oriol Vinyals, who leads the Deep Learning team at the AI research lab, emphasized that programming skills remain essential despite the rise of AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot and Google’s Gemini. His comments come at a critical time when educational institutions are debating how to adapt computer science curricula for an AI-powered future.
Vinyals, who previously worked on AlphaStar (the AI system that mastered StarCraft II), argues that while AI can generate code, understanding programming fundamentals is still crucial for effective problem-solving. He suggests that rather than abandoning coding education, schools should evolve their approach to emphasize computational thinking alongside practical coding skills. This perspective offers a more nuanced view than tech leaders who have made headlines with predictions about AI replacing traditional programming entirely.
The debate highlights a broader tension in tech education as generative AI transforms the industry landscape. While some experts predict a future where natural language prompts replace traditional coding, others like Vinyals maintain that human programmers who understand both AI capabilities and coding fundamentals will have significant advantages. For students and professionals navigating career decisions, the message seems clear: coding knowledge remains valuable, but the nature of programming work is evolving rapidly as AI becomes a powerful collaborative tool rather than a complete replacement.