Introduction
Human skills in programming languages, data analysis, and other technical areas have been a major key for success in the tech industry and beyond, but the landscape is changing rapidly.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are constantly automating daily tasks that were once performed by humans. This is a trend that is expected to continue.
AI technology has become more advanced. According to Hadley & Bucher, the promise of AI coding tools should not be underestimated, and success hinges on alignment with company needs, adequate training, and human oversight.
One of the most important parts of achieving goals besides technical skills in the age of AI is effective communication. According to the Journal of Stage, human communication capabilities are important, and it can become even more valuable as technology advances. Collaboration between humans and AI will enable us to make more effective decisions and solve problems, helping us to build a more prosperous society.
In order to improve our communication skills, we can collaborate with AI. There are generally many ways to collaborate with AI; one of them is prompt engineering. Prompt engineering has been very popular during this AI age and according to Vishnu Narayan’s article, prompt engineering is important especially for organizations.
Why Does AI Have a Formidable Impact on Technical Skills Improvement for Software Developers?
Technical skills are essential for software developers and AI tools can help with some technical tasks. AI can help developers in learning new programming stacks, by bridging the gaps in their technical skills. AI has the potential to revolutionize software development by automating repetitive tasks and helping developers to focus on more creative and strategic work.
Here are Some AI Features that Could Help Developers Improve Their Technical Skils:
- Explaining and Summarizing Code
AI tools can quickly analyze large codebases and provide overviews of how systems work. This helps onboard new developers faster. - Writing Boilerplate Code
For repetitive coding tasks like creating classes, functions, and tests, AI tools can generate the necessary boilerplate code. Developers simply fill in the parameters and the codes are generated. - Coding in Unfamiliar Languages
For developers working in a new programming language, AI tools provide suggestions based on their knowledge of syntax and best practices. This makes the learning curve smoother. - Detecting Errors and Security Risks
AI tools can analyze code, assist with debugging, detect issues like syntax errors, security vulnerabilities, and non-compliant code. They provide alerts so developers can address problems quickly. - Writing Documentation
By understanding code, AI tools can generate initial documentation based on comments, function names, and logic. Developers then simply review and improve the documentation.
Why is Embracing Communication Skills Important?
Communication skill is the ability to transfer information from person to person. It is the act of transferring information from one place to another. It may be done vocally (using voice), written (using printed or digital media such as books, magazines, websites, or emails), visually (using logos, maps, charts, or graphs) or non-verbally (using body language, gestures and the tone and pitch of voice). In practice, it is often a combination of several of these.
Communication skills may take a lifetime to master if indeed anyone can ever claim to have mastered them. However, there are many things you can do easily to improve your communication skills and ensure that you can transmit and receive information effectively.
Developers can speed up their coding tasks with the help of AI, however, to collaborate with AI, we need to communicate with AI first. Enhancing personal communication skills in the age of AI is important, since communicating with AI requires effective communication. As a result, optimizing AI performance can be achieved. For example, AI-powered chatbots, when optimized properly, can manage routine customer inquiries, freeing up human team members to focus on more complex or personalized interactions. This can be especially beneficial in industries with a high volume of customer interactions, as it allows team members to provide a more efficient service.
Communication Skills Improvement with AI Through ‘Prompt Engineering’
Prompt engineering is the practice of designing inputs for generative AI tools that will produce optimal outputs.
Let’s say you are making spaghetti marinara for dinner. Sauce from a jar is wonderful. But what if you buy tomatoes and basil from the farmer’s market to make your sauce? Chances are, it will taste a lot better. And what if you grow your ingredients from your garden to make your fresh pasta? A whole new level of deliciousness.
Just as better ingredients can make for a better dinner, better input into a generative AI model can improve results. These inputs are called prompts, and the practice of writing them is called prompt engineering. Skilled prompt engineers design inputs to interact optimally with other inputs in a generative AI tool. These inputs help elicit better answers from the AI model, meaning, the model can perform its tasks better, such as writing marketing emails, generating code, synthesizing text, engaging with customers via chatbots, creating digital art, composing music, or any of the other hundreds, if not thousands, of current applications.
Let’s look at an example. Say, you want a generative AI model to help you promote an upcoming financial-planning workshop with the CFO of your organization, Acme Inc. You provide a generative AI chatbot with a simple prompt: “Write a social post advertising a class.”
Here is the output:
**Elevate Your Skills: Join Our Class! **
Unlock new knowledge, connect with experts, and embrace growth.
Limited spots available – reserve yours now! #LearnWithUs #SkillBuilding #ClassTime
It is generic and unlikely to generate much interest.
Let’s try again. This time, make your prompt a little more specific: “Write a short social post advertising a financial-planning workshop with the CFO of Acme, Inc.” Here is what the model gives you this time:
**Master Your Finances with the CFO of Acme, Inc.! **
Get ready to take charge of your financial future!
Join our upcoming Financial Planning Workshop featuring the CFO of Acme, Inc. Gain insights, strategies, and expert advice to secure your financial success. Limited spots available—do not miss this exclusive opportunity.
Reserve your seat today and pave the way to financial freedom! #FinancialPlanning #ExpertAdvice #SecureYourFuture
The more specific output has a greater chance of achieving the result you are after. By creating a more detailed, specific request to the AI chatbot, you have just engineered a prompt.
Conclusion
Technical skills are still essential for software developers and AI coding tools can help them learn faster. These tools can explain code, which can be helpful for developers who are learning new programming languages or stacks. However, developers still need effective communication skills to operate AI properly. Even if AI is a useful tool, it cannot fully replace humans. AI can only be a good assistant if the human can communicate well with it.
Therefore, communication skills are important skills that software developers should have besides technical skills. To improve communication skills with AI, developers should learn prompt engineering which teaches the developer how to prompt the AI with more specific and effective inputs so it can generate the optimal output.
