Founder and Executive Director of STEMGuyana, Dr. Karen Abrams, is urging policymakers and institutions to approach the rapid rise of artificial intelligence in software development with caution, warning that speed and efficiency must not come at the expense of quality, oversight and long-term reliability.
In her April 5, 2026 Kaieteur News column, Abrams argues that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer optional in the software industry but has become embedded in everyday development work. “If you are a software engineer in 2026, you are probably using artificial intelligence and using it a lot. Deeply, daily, and increasingly as part of the real work of building and shipping software,” she wrote.
Citing the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, Abrams noted that 84% of developers were already using or planning to use AI tools, with more than half of professionals using them daily. While earlier frustrations included AI-generated code being “almost right, but not quite,” she said rapid improvements by companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic have significantly enhanced reliability and performance.
“These improvements matter enormously for Guyana,” Abrams stressed, situating the discussion within the country’s current phase of rapid transformation driven by oil revenues and digital expansion.
Guyana is undergoing accelerated modernisation across public and private sectors, with increasing demand for technical talent as agencies, banks, schools and utilities move to digitise operations. In this environment, Abrams warned, AI is not just assisting development—it is “in many cases… becoming the toolkit.”
However, she cautioned that the global shift toward AI-driven coding is also reshaping the profession itself. Influential technology leaders, she noted, are increasingly predicting that AI will generate most code, fundamentally changing the role of human engineers.
Rather than writing every line, today’s software engineer is evolving into “a spec writer, reviewer, debugger, evaluator, orchestrator, and decision-maker,” she said, emphasising that human oversight remains critical in determining system design, integration and security.
Abrams, drawing on more than two decades of experience managing development teams, rejected the notion that AI will eliminate the need for engineers in the near term. Instead, she argued that falling production costs are likely to increase demand for software, expanding opportunities for skilled professionals.
But she warned that not all roles—and not all institutions—are equally prepared for the transition.
“A country like Guyana should be especially careful not to confuse faster coding with better systems,” she wrote, highlighting the risk that organisations could become “intoxicated by speed and dazzled by demos,” while neglecting critical elements such as architecture, testing and cybersecurity.
She outlined a potential cascade of failures if such oversight is ignored: “systems will crash, records will go missing, customers will be locked out, payments will fail… and public confidence in digitisation itself will be damaged.”
The warning comes amid broader global concerns about AI’s impact on employment. Abrams referenced projections that artificial intelligence could significantly reduce entry-level white-collar jobs across multiple sectors, including law, finance and engineering, within the next five years.
For Guyana, she argued, the response must be proactive rather than reactive.
“We should be asking that question now, not after the fact,” she said, urging a national focus on building “durable advantage” through strong foundational education, deep domain expertise and meaningful AI fluency.
She stressed that simply using tools like ChatGPT is insufficient, calling instead for a culture of lifelong learning and critical thinking. “The future will belong to people who combine domain expertise, judgment, curiosity, communication, and real AI fluency,” she wrote.
Abrams’ recommendations to policymakers and institutions were direct: leverage AI to accelerate development and reduce repetitive tasks, but maintain rigorous standards. “Do not confuse acceleration with maturity,” she cautioned.
“Put seasoned professionals over critical systems and keep humans in the loop. Demand architecture. Demand testing. Demand documentation. Demand accountability.”
Her central argument underscores a pivotal moment for Guyana’s digital future—one where the power of artificial intelligence must be matched by disciplined governance and technical expertise.
“An engineer using AI is already more powerful than one who is not,” Abrams concluded. “The deeper question is whether our institutions are wise enough to use that power well.”
