Key Takeaways
- Andrew Ng is the founder of Google Brain, an AI research team incorporated into Google.
- In a new talk, Ng recommended using AI-assisted tools to generate code, or “vibe coding.”
- According to Ng, those who learn how to code will be more productive than those who don’t.
Google Brain AI research team founder and Stanford University computer science professor Andrew Ng believes people should still learn how to code — but with an AI twist.
At a talk at AI cloud company Snowflake‘s Build conference on Monday, Ng recommended that “everyone” learn how to code. Those who code will be more productive than those who don’t, no matter what their role is, according to Ng.
“People that code, be it CEOs and marketers, recruiters, not just software engineers, will really get more done than ones that don’t,” Ng said at the event.
Ng, who has authored over 200 research papers on AI, machine learning and robotics, said that now is a “wonderful time” to code and build something — but he recommended using AI to create code instead of writing it out manually.
“Don’t code by hand,” he said at the conference. “Don’t do [it] the old way. Get AI to help you code, and that will make people in all job functions much more productive and have more fun.”
Ng recommends vibe coding, the practice of directing AI to write code based on a series of instructions. The programmer’s role shifts from writing code line-by-line to overseeing an AI assistant that generates, refines and debugs a program on their behalf. In other words, AI handles writing the actual code while programmers focus more on the big picture of what they want the code to do.
Tech CEOs have recently touted vibe coding as a way to become more productive. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in June that he was spending his free time vibe coding a webpage with AI using AI coding assistants Cursor and Replit, both of which are advertised as able to generate code from text prompts.
Pichai also said on an April earnings call that Google was using AI to generate “well over 30%” of new code, up from 25% in October.
Related: Want to Build an App? Here’s How ‘Vibe Coding’ with AI Can Help You Do It in Minutes.
Meanwhile, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in June at London Tech Week that AI is the “great equalizer” when it comes to bringing ideas to life with code. The way to ask a computer to write code is to “just ask it nicely” in plain English, as you would a person, Huang said.
At the same time, companies such as Visa, Reddit and DoorDash have started outright requiring vibe coding experience or proficiency in their job listings.
There’s also been a surge of general interest in vibe coding. According to AI trend analysis platform Exploding Topics, searches for “vibe coding” rose 6,700% from March to May.
Key Takeaways
- Andrew Ng is the founder of Google Brain, an AI research team incorporated into Google.
- In a new talk, Ng recommended using AI-assisted tools to generate code, or “vibe coding.”
- According to Ng, those who learn how to code will be more productive than those who don’t.
Google Brain AI research team founder and Stanford University computer science professor Andrew Ng believes people should still learn how to code — but with an AI twist.
At a talk at AI cloud company Snowflake‘s Build conference on Monday, Ng recommended that “everyone” learn how to code. Those who code will be more productive than those who don’t, no matter what their role is, according to Ng.
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