A new OpenAI model arrived this month with a glossy livestream, group watch parties and a lingering sense of disappointment. The YouTube comment section was underwhelmed. “I think they are all starting to realize this isn’t going to change the world like they thought it would,” wrote one viewer. “I can see it on their faces.” But if the casual user was unimpressed, the AI model’s saving grace may be code.

Coding is generative AI’s newest battleground. With big bills to pay, high valuations to live up to and a market wobble to erase, the sector needs to prove its corporate productivity chops. Coding is loudly promoted as a business use case that already works. 

For one thing, AI-generated code holds the promise of replacing programmers — a profession of very well paid people. For another, the work can be quantified. In April, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said that up to 30 per cent of the company’s code was now being written by AI. Google chief executive Sundar Pichai has said the same thing. Salesforce has paused engineering hires and Mark Zuckerberg told podcaster Joe Rogan that Meta would use AI as a “mid-level engineer” that writes code.