I stumbled upon a question online that made me pause.
Someone was seriously asking if our role as Systems Engineers is done. They wanted to know if the whole job could be automated.
They were looking at the new AI tools that can write requirement statements. They figured if the machine can write the text, the engineer is obsolete.
That is a dangerous misunderstanding of what we actually do.
It assumes that Systems Engineering is just about typing valid sentences into a database.
If your job is just "writing requirements," then yes, you should be worried. A machine can type faster than you.
But Systems Engineering is not about writing. It is about thinking.
We have been automating things for twenty years. We have been generating production code directly from state-chart models for decades.
It didn't replace the engineer. It just changed the job.
The tool can generate the code or the requirement, but it cannot tell you if it is the right requirement. It cannot understand the political context of the stakeholder, the physical constraints of the hardware, or the subtle trade-off between cost and safety.
You still need a professional to look at the output and know if it is correct.
You need to know what "good" looks like so you can catch the machine when it hallucinates.
Automation is easy. I build myself simple tools that accelerate work massively.
You can have them too.
BUT ..
Automation doesn't let you off the hook. It just removes the drudgery so you can focus on the hard logic. It is a tool that aids the master, not a replacement for them.
The only way to become that master, the one who checks the machine rather than being replaced by it, is through hands-on experience. You have to do the work.
Or you can speed up that process by finding a mentor who has already done it.
Tell What do YOU think?
Until next time,
Alex
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Alex Toth, CSEP MIfSE, IREB RE
Systems Magician
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