Human coding skills key in world shaped by AI technologies

IN JUST a few short years, Al has leapt from the pages of science fiction into our everyday lives. This new wave of technology is already reshaping the way we live, work, learn, and interact — and we're only at the beginning of what could be the most significant technological revolution in human history.

- Philip Colligan Guest columnist

As the pace of change accelerates, we face an urgent question: what exactly should young people be learning today to ensure they can thrive in a world where AI is changing everything?

Until recently, the case for learning to code was simple: it opened the door to a well-paid job. But with industry reporting that 30% of code is now written by Al, it’s no surprise some are asking: do kids still need to learn to code?

The answer is emphatically yes. Even in a world where Al systems can generate much of the code once written by humans, we still need skilled human programmers who can translate messy, real-world problems into the prompts that guide AI. And the human role doesn’t stop there. We need programmers who can critically assess the code AI produces — checking it is safe, ethical, and fit for purpose.

We need human creativity to spot new opportunities to solve problems and systems thinking to weave code into complex software architectures. The hard work of learning to code is what equips young people with the mental models and fluency to become skilled programmers.

JUST as we ask them to write stories to build language skills and literacy, coding is the hands-on practice through which they can develop computational literacy.