The artificial intelligence revolution is here and there’s simply no way around it: all professionals, even those not in tech, need to figure out exactly what AI tools out there can best assist them in their day to day life. And for tech professionals such as developers, the number of tools in their reach is just growing exponentially and to keep up with the field and stay relevant, they’ll have to find out exactly which AI tools are best for their specific role.
Within web development, of course, exist many different roles and the exact AI tools that are best for you to learn will depend on your experience, current job, and field of expertise, but we’ve broken this article into the three main roles that web developers take on: front-end development, back-end development, and full stack development.
But before we dive into the specificities of these three roles, let’s first cover a bit of what artificial intelligence means in the world of web development and why all web developers should be looking forward to a future with AI tools.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
Artificial Intelligence and Web Development
Artificial intelligence has had the world abuzz in the last year and there’s a clear reason why: the potential it has to transform the way we do practically everything is incredible and we’re only at the beginning. As more and more research goes into AI and what it can do for both business professionals and normal people in their day to day lives grows, the need to understand it and have good control of its capabilities will separate good professionals from irreplaceable, skilled techies.
For web development specifically, the introduction of artificial intelligence tools means the following:
The ability to automate code: writing complex and detailed code will still be the responsibility of web developers, but for repetitive lines that need to be duplicated throughout a project, AI can automate this process, freeing up the developers time to focus on more challenging tasks. In addition, AI coding tools can help identify bugs or make suggestions.
Specialized recommendations: thanks to its ability to process and analyze large amounts of information, AI tools can analyze a website’s performance and market trends to make suggestions for changes or updates that web developers can undertake to improve website design and overall user experience.
An increase in user-specialized content: all users want to feel special and like their user experience was designed specifically for them and with AI tools, user-specific recommendations or suggestions can be made, increasing user loyalty.
Now that you see how artificial intelligence tools could benefit web development, let’s dive right into the most important AI skills that all web developers need.
Artificial Intelligence Skills for Front-End Developers
When people think of what artificial intelligence can do in the field of web development, it’s normal that they thoughts go straight to the back end and coding, but the truth is that there’s a wide range of AI skills that front-end developers can master to ensure that they’re making the most of all AI has to offer.
If you’re a front-end developer and looking to enhance your skills through AI, take a look at our list and see what you can incorporate into your toolbox:
Enhancing the user interface
As we quickly mentioned above, there’s a lot of room for increasing the level of personalization and connection that users feel through more personalized and smarter user interfaces and as a front-end developer, you’ll benefit from the help of AI tools as you optimize the experience that users have with the web page.
Learning how to use and master artificial intelligence analyzing tools will help you understand exactly what users are looking for, creating tailored experiences that lead them to return to your site time and time again.
Creating faster project timelines
There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a project and realizing that there was a problem that could have been fixed early on and with AI tools, front-end developers can automate repetitive tasks, automatically generate repetitive pieces of codes, and identify bugs or problems before the project advances.
In addition to simply being more efficient and being able to spend more of their time on more interesting and transformative tasks, this helps the product reach the market faster.
Artificial Intelligence Skills for Back-End Developers
Back-end developers are tasked with creating the foundation of websites and because of this incredibly important task, lots of AI advancements have been centered on alleviating some of the work typically left for back-end developers.
As a back-end developer, your future will certainly consist of AI tools and it’s a good idea to start focusing on learning the following skills.
Machine learning
The introduction of machine learning has led to an incredible leap in what back-end developers can accomplish and as these programs become more detailed and advanced, back-end developers will need to know at least the basics of setting up and launching these programs to lead to the best possible outcome.
As machine learning becomes more advanced, machine learning engineers who work solely on the back-end will also become more pronounced in the field; taking the time to familiarize yourself with machine learning will help protect your role and expand your capacities as artificial intelligence usage on the back-end continues to grow.
Security & safety
One of the main responsibilities of backend developers is ensuring the security and safety of the website and as you advance in your career and handle increasingly sensitive data, the need for advanced algorithms that can detect cyberthreats or fraudulent access attempts will become increasingly important and luckily for the next generation of back-end developers, this is one of the most useful applications of artificial intelligence on the back end.
Artificial Intelligence Skills for Fullstack Developers
Tasked with building both the front and back ends of web development projects, the potential for artificial intelligence for fullstack developers is almost off the charts; with such a wide range of responsibilities, any sort of automation or problem detection will save valuable time.
Together with their comprehensive knowledge of both the front and back ends, full stack developers will benefit from the following artificial intelligence skills:
Understanding automation
We can safely assume that artificial intelligence will continue to advance in its potential for automation, meaning that exactly what it should automate will ultimately be the decision of the fullstack developer in charge. The fullstack developer’s unique understanding of the entire web development project workflow comes into play here and allows the developer to properly apply the power of artificial intelligence tools to their project, automating the tasks that can be automated and leaving the tougher or more creative tasks to the human.
Adapting to flexible schedules
As artificial intelligence tools become more commonplace in the web development ecosystem, there will certainly be some hiccups and speed bumps and as the one who understands the entire project timeline, fullstack developers will have to be ready to quickly learn the new tools introduced and make adjustments in the moment as new changes or challenges are introduced.
