Large Language Models and The End of Programming - CS50 Tech Talk with Dr. Matt Welsh

The field of Computer Science is headed for a major upheaval with the rise of large AI models, such as ChatGPT, that are capable of performing general-purpose reasoning and problem solving. We are headed for a future in which it will no longer be necessary to write computer programs. Rather, I believe that most software will eventually be replaced by AI models that, given an appropriate description of a task, will directly execute that task, without requiring the creation or maintenance of conventional software. In effect, large language models act as a virtual machine that is “programmed” in natural language. This talk will explore the implications of this prediction, drawing on recent research into the cognitive and task execution capabilities of large language models.

Matt Welsh is Co-founder and Chief Architect of Fixie.ai, a Seattle-based startup developing a new computational platform with AI at the core. He was previously head of engineering at OctoML, a software engineer at Apple and Xnor.ai, engineering director at Google, and a Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University. He holds a PhD from UC Berkeley.