AI Revolutionizes Development: GitHub Reports Record Activity Despite Job Displacement Fears

You might think AI is taking over developers' jobs. After all, AWS CEO Matt Garman predicts most developers won’t be coding in two years. Former Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque gives programmers just five years.

But GitHub's latest data tells a different story.

In 2024, developer activity hit record levels. Total projects on GitHub grew by 25% year-over-year, reaching 518 million. Contributions soared to 5.2 billion.

Over one million open-source maintainers, students, and teachers are now using GitHub Copilot for free. That’s a big deal!

GitHub’s report states, “More developers are joining the global community.” In the past year, more people engaged with open-source and public projects, often with AI's help.

AI isn't replacing developers; it's helping them. Developers launched over 70,000 new generative AI projects in 2024, a staggering 98% increase from the previous year. Public projects like home-assistant/core and Ollama (generative text) are getting lots of contributions, especially from newcomers.

This shift to open-source AI development is crucial. It encourages transparency and collaboration, moving away from a few large companies controlling everything. Open-source projects allow for public scrutiny, faster innovation, and broader access to AI technology. This is especially important for developers in emerging markets who might otherwise miss out on cutting-edge tools.

In a notable change, Python has now surpassed JavaScript as the most popular programming language. This is the first time since 2014 that this has happened.

While this might seem minor, it shows Python's growing importance in fields like data science and machine learning. JavaScript is still key for web development, so this shift suggests developers may find AI projects more appealing than traditional web tasks.

Additionally, Jupyter Notebooks—open-source environments for running AI models—are also gaining popularity this year.

This change isn’t just happening in one place. India’s developer community is on the rise and is expected to surpass the U.S. on GitHub by 2028. There’s also significant growth outside North America and Europe, with Brazil, India, and Nigeria leading the way.

India saw a 95% increase in contributions to generative AI projects, while France experienced a 70% boost. Emerging tech hubs like the Netherlands (291%), Ethiopia (242%), and Costa Rica (171%) are showing major growth in AI contributions.

Despite this positive outlook, many developers and tech workers feel uneasy about AI.

The rapid adoption of AI, highlighted by McKinsey’s study showing a 72% adoption rate, helps explain these mixed feelings.

Developers worry about being replaced by tools that simplify coding and automate repetitive tasks. With AI projects growing on GitHub, it’s easy to see why fears of job displacement linger.

Elon Musk has noted these concerns too. He predicts an “existential crisis of meaning” as AI becomes capable of performing human jobs “better” than humans.

At the 2024 All-In Summit, Musk emphasized a future where traditional roles may vanish, pushing humanity to redefine its purpose in a world where tasks can be done by AI.

Workers across various industries are taking proactive steps to protect their roles. Many are turning to unions and collective bargaining to ensure safeguards are in place. For example, SAG-AFTRA in the entertainment industry has pushed back against unchecked AI use in creative fields.

There’s also a growing demand for “AI literacy” training programs. These aim to help workers understand and work alongside AI tools instead of being replaced by them.

While concerns are valid—the World Economic Forum estimates AI could eliminate 85 million jobs—GitHub’s data suggests that a dystopian AI future isn’t here yet. Rather than replacing developers, AI is empowering them to shape the future of technology on their own terms.