[throwaway4233]

I doubt that the internal models would be able to function as a developer though based on my limited knowledge. It would need to

1. Independently pick work. 2. QA it, sort out code reviews and then finally add them to the release cycle. 3. Write documentation or write change logs for it.

While all of this can be automated, there would need to be manual verification at some point (to fix broken tests or update configuration values) and that would require an engineer who is aware of the involved domain. And to adjust for vacations, sickness and other events, multiple engineers would be needed. All of whom need to have experience working with that area of the codebase, for which hands-on experience would be hard to gain, since the models are doing most of the grunt work. And at this point the company would be paying for both the engineers and the operational cost of running those models.

[eggsmediumrare]

No one is saying there won't be engineers in the loop. Just fewer of them.

[PartiallyTyped]

I never claimed that there will not be engineers in the loop.

The operational cost is many times smaller than that of an engineer, and with proper loops it can work tirelessly.