{"slug": "are-we-forgetting-software-engineering-in-the-race-toward-ai-ml", "title": "Are We Forgetting Software Engineering in the Race Toward AI/ML?", "summary": "A developer argues that aspiring AI/ML engineers are skipping core software engineering fundamentals, such as backend development, databases, and system design, in favor of a narrow path focused on Python, ML, and deep learning. The developer contends that AI systems require robust software infrastructure to thrive, and that specialization should not come at the expense of foundational knowledge.", "body_md": "First of all, I warmly welcome everyone out there in the DEV Community.\n\n[Completely open for discussion — drop your thoughts below.]\n\nFrom my perspective, it feels like everyone is racing towards AI/ML.\n\nThe moment someone says they want to become an AI/ML Engineer, the conversation immediately shifts towards:\n\nPython → ML → Deep Learning → LLMs → Latest AI Tools\n\nAnd thinking about it, well, it’s quite understandable too.\n\nAI is one of the most exciting areas in technology right now.\n\nBUT, I have a question…\n\n**Why are we starting to treat AI/ML Engineering as something completely different from Software Engineering?**\n\nI often see people following an extremely narrow path towards AI/ML while completely skipping the fundamentals of Software Engineering.\n\nBackend development gets ignored.\n\nDatabases, networking, operating systems, system design — all of them get ignored.\n\nAnd afterwards:\n\nAPIs, deployment, testing, distributed systems…\n\nAll of these seem quite trivial, right?\n\nBecause the end goal is simply to create or automate something with AI.\n\nBut it’s quite clear to me that AI can’t possibly live by itself.\n\nFor any AI model to thrive, we need data.\n\nThat data needs storage and pipelines.\n\nA model needs an application around it.\n\nThat application needs APIs.\n\nThose APIs need backend infrastructure.\n\nAnd now we have an actual system.\n\nThat system needs to be monitored for bugs, optimized for CPU and memory efficiency, refactored when necessary, maintained over time, and tested against new use cases.\n\nSo thinking about all of this:\n\nHow does one even fathom becoming an AI/ML “Engineer” without understanding what they are actually engineering into and working on?\n\nMaybe AI/ML Engineering and Software Engineering aren’t two completely different entities.\n\nMaybe they are different components of the same system.\n\nNow, I’m not saying:\n\n“You should become an expert in everything.”\n\nSpecialization is indeed important.\n\nBut specialization doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning the fundamentals that the specialization is built upon.\n\nThis reminds me of a parable a friend once told me.\n\nConsider these two paths:\n\nPython → ML → Deep Learning → AI\n\nIt’s like building a strong house specialized in ML on top of a foundation built on sand.\n\nEventually, the system encounters real-world problems — unexpected failures, scaling issues, security vulnerabilities, inefficient infrastructure, broken data pipelines — and suddenly that beautiful house starts falling apart.\n\nBut consider this path:\n\nProgramming → CS Fundamentals → Software Engineering → Backend/Systems → Data → ML → AI\n\nNow you’re building that same house on a strong foundation.\n\nThe house can still specialize in ML.\n\nBut when the environment changes, the foundation doesn’t collapse.\n\nAnd perhaps that’s the part we’re forgetting.\n\nAI/ML isn’t happening in isolation.\n\n**We’re still building software.**\n\nSo I’ll end with the same recurring question:\n\nAre we specializing too early in AI/ML and forgetting that, underneath all of it, we’re still building software?\n\nI’d genuinely love to hear what other developers think about this.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/are-we-forgetting-software-engineering-in-the-race-toward-ai-ml", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/jonathancodes365/are-we-forgetting-software-engineering-in-the-race-toward-aiml-jpp", "published_at": "2026-08-31 03:18:10+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-31 03:51:38.974461+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "machine-learning", "developer-tools"], "entities": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/are-we-forgetting-software-engineering-in-the-race-toward-ai-ml", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/are-we-forgetting-software-engineering-in-the-race-toward-ai-ml.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/are-we-forgetting-software-engineering-in-the-race-toward-ai-ml.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/are-we-forgetting-software-engineering-in-the-race-toward-ai-ml.jsonld"}}