Serious computer scientists are increasingly believing that humans will no longer be required to write any code.
The latest voice to join this chorus is Ryan Dahl, the creator of Node.js, one of the most influential technologies in modern web development. In a recent post on X, Dahl made an unambiguous declaration about the future of software engineering. “This has been said a thousand times before, but allow me to add my own voice: the era of humans writing code is over,” he said. “Disturbing for those of us who identify as SWEs, but no less true. That’s not to say SWEs don’t have work to do, but writing syntax directly is not it,” he added.
Dahl’s statement carries particular weight given his status as a pioneering figure in the development community. Node.js, which he created in 2009, fundamentally transformed how developers build scalable network applications and remains a cornerstone of modern backend development.
The sentiment Dahl expresses isn’t merely theoretical speculation. Major technology companies have already begun witnessing the shift he describes. Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that well over 30% of code at Google is now written by AI, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella disclosed a similar figure of 30% for his company—both announcements coming in April 2025.
The trajectory suggests these percentages will only increase. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei projected in March 2025 that 90% of coding could be done by AI within three to six months, with 100% possible within a year. Google’s Jeff Dean indicated in May 2025 that AI could operate like a junior developer within a year.
What’s particularly striking about Dahl’s message is his acknowledgment of the emotional impact this transition will have on software engineers. He describes it as “disturbing for those of us who identify as SWEs,” recognizing that for many developers, writing code is central to their professional identity and sense of purpose.
However, Dahl is careful to clarify that this doesn’t spell the end of software engineering as a profession. Rather, it represents a fundamental redefinition of what software engineers do. The role is evolving from writing syntax to something closer to what an Anthropic researcher characterized in June 2025 as reviewing AI-generated code rather than writing it from scratch.
This shift is already playing out in practice. An Anthropic lead engineer noted in May 2025 that 80% of Claude Code’s own codebase is written by Claude Code itself—a recursive validation of AI’s coding capabilities. Boris Cherny has gone on to say that he hadn’t himself written any of the code he’d committed over a month, with all of it being written by Claude Code.
The implications for the software industry are profound. Educational institutions will need to rethink computer science curricula. Companies will need to restructure engineering teams around the new reality. Individual developers will need to develop new skills centered on architecture, verification, and directing AI systems rather than implementing logic line by line. Dahl’s statement, coming from someone who has shaped the trajectory of an entire generation of web development, serves as both a wake-up call and a roadmap. The era he’s declaring over isn’t ancient history—it’s the present that many developers still inhabit. But according to one of the field’s most prominent voices, that present is rapidly becoming the past.