Can You Use AI for Web Development?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll be aware of the massive boom in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies over the past few years. As expert web developers, we’ve seen firsthand the rapid evolution of this tech and its impact on our industry.

The short answer is yes, you can use AI for web development!

Long gone are the days of static HTML pages and so the tools and methods we use to create some of the stunning websites we’ve worked on have continued to evolve. Naturally with AI becoming so accessible, it’s become an increasingly essential part of the web development process.

Fun fact: 77% of developers are making use of ChatGPT.

In this article, we'll explore:

• How to use AI for web development
• How we use AI at Clear
• What AI tools should you use for Web development?
• Will AI replace Web Developers?

So, AI tools aren’t currently designing, building and launching sites automatically just yet (then we’d really be out of a job!). However there are many key ways in which you can leverage it for web development. Here’s some of the most useful ways AI can be used for web development:

To Automate Code Generation

Of course, the first thought on AI in web development is code generation. Whilst AI isn't necessarily great at writing code from scratch, there are many AI-powered tools out there that can assist with generating code snippets, covering everything from auto-completing a basic sanity check to building the boilerplate for a project (e.g. a WordPress plugin). For instance, Github's Copilot utilises AI to make suggestions based on the comments and context! This means you can focus your development time on complex logic, rather than repetitive coding tasks.

Artificial intelligence can be great for detecting bugs and security vulnerabilities in code. Bear in mind that this can be a double edged sword as it does require developers to have a basic understanding of the code being written to ensure that no security vulnerabilities are actually being introduced! (e.g. due to AI hallucinations)

For Upskilling and Education

Knowledge is power and AI can help fill knowledge gaps and solve problems by providing tailored guidance and real-time assistance. This is particularly handy for new developers who may be less experienced. For web developers that are taking their first steps into the industry, certain AI tools like ChatGPT can act as a tailored, virtual mentor of sorts, supporting pair programming and general problem solving.

To Improve Efficiency

Using AI, you can massively reduce the time needed to complete many of the development tasks for your website. Your time is precious and so those time savings can be a massive bonus, allowing you to put more time into creating more complex designs, optimising your digital marketing or just well, having a well earned cuppa!

Some efficiency gains include:

• Automated code reviews
• Automated code deployments
• Greater volumes of code produced in the same amount of time
• Automation of repetitive, mundane tasks (e.g. checking to make sure data exists)

To Enhance Security

It goes without saying that Cybersecurity is a high priority when developing a website, especially for eCommerce sites that handle sensitive customer data. AI can detect and respond to potential security threats by analysing patterns and identifying anomalies, thereby safeguarding web applications from malicious activities.

Security-focused AI tools monitor real-time traffic, detect potential breaches, and take preventive actions.

For Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Some SEO platforms like Yoast provide AI tools that can help automatically generate meta descriptions to speed up your work and ensure that you're working to improve your search engine presence. There are many other AI tools that can also analyse your website content and suggest improvements to enhance search engine rankings, ensuring that you're reaching your audience effectively.

At Clear, we've embraced AI as a tool to help streamline our development processes. This allows us to deliver our projects at the same high standard, just with an extra pair of robot eyes on the page at the same time. Here's some of the other ways that we're making use of AI:

Coding

We employ AI-driven tools to assist in code reviews, identifying potential issues and suggesting improvements. These tools accelerate our development cycle and maintain high code quality. Automated code reviews ensure that common mistakes are caught early, reducing the time spent on manual checks.

We're making use of AI integrated IDE's (code editors) such as Cursor, which lets us write code faster and more efficiently.

We’re also generating boilerplate code that gets us up and running with projects much more quickly. It means that we’re not starting from scratch each time we begin our work and that saves us time to concentrate on the most important parts of the project.

Design Optimisation

At Clear, we use AI technology to analyse user interaction data to help us make data driven decisions on UX designs. This means we use real life data and cutting edge tech to ensure that the websites we create don’t just look nice, they’re user friendly and optimised for conversions. By leveraging AI-driven heatmaps and user journey analytics, we can identify pain points on a page and enhance the design, allowing for better engagement.

Testing and Quality Assurance (QA)

Making sure that our code is of the highest quality is a value that we strive to stand by and is something we can utilise AI to test. Powerful AI-lead testing tools can automatically check over some performance and security aspects of your code. These tools massively reduce the time required for testing whilst also ensuring that no stone is left unturned.

It’s worth noting that you shouldn’t rely fully on this as a process alone and always make sure to check yourself. However it’s become such a useful tool that reinforces the quality of the code we write, with automated code reviews

It’s fair to say that there are A LOT of options when it comes to AI powered tools that you can use for web development. It’s easy to get lost or overwhelmed with the choice, but we’ve got you covered. Here’s a list of our favourite AI tools to get you started. (The first one is a little biased, we have to admit.)

1. ClearGPT

ClearGPT is your digital guide to all things Clear! As well as being powered by ChatGPT, it contains loads of information on how we can help support your projects, all about our business and more that can help you generate ideas and kick start your project. You can try it for yourself here.

2. GitHub Copilot

An AI pair programmer that suggests code and entire functions in real-time, enhancing developer productivity. It's particularly useful for repetitive coding tasks and can significantly speed up the development process.

Fun fact: 46% of developers are using tools such as Github Copilot

3. Cursor and Windsurf

IDE's (code editors) such as Cursor and Windsurf incorporate AI to improve the developer experience, offering cool features such as automated code completion.

4. Adobe Sensei

Adobe's AI and machine learning platform assists in content creation, customer insights, and marketing automation. It's a powerful tool for personalising user experiences and optimising content delivery.

5. ChatGPT

General-purpose AI models like ChatGPT are increasingly being used in lieu of search engines to provide tailored responses to coding issues. According to this report, ChatGPT is still the most popular AI tool being used by developers.

6. Clarity, Hotjar and Crazy Egg

While not purely AI-driven, these tools incorporate AI to analyse user behaviour through heatmaps and session recordings, offering insights into how users interact with websites.

Before we start panicking here at Clear HQ about the future of web development (and our jobs!) We have to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of where AI fits into the digital landscape right now. Whilst as we have discovered, AI can automate some of the more repetitive tasks and offer some very clever solutions.

A research study has found that developers who make use of AI are able to complete tasks more than 50% faster on average than developers who don't.

The future of the web developer role may look a little different to what we see now with developers shifting away from day-to-day programming and evolving into AI project managers. In essence, developers will be overseeing the website coding

However, AI can never replicate something real. It lacks the creativity, critical thinking and some of the understanding a human developer brings to the table.

At the end of the day, web development is not just about writing code, just as websites aren’t designed to just be used by robots. It takes human understanding to take your story, your product or vision and bring it to life in a way that connects with other human beings.

At the time of writing, nearly 50% of developers are making use of AI-powered coding assistants every day. It’s undeniably transforming the web development landscape, offering tools and solutions that enhance efficiency, personalisation, and user engagement.

By embracing AI, we developers can streamline workflows, deliver superior user experiences, and stay competitive in an ever-evolving industry.

At Clear, we view AI as an ally and assistant to handle the repetitive tasks so that we can focus on what we do best: crafting bespoke, innovative websites that drive meaningful impacts for our clients and their customers.

Why not see what we can do for your website? Get in touch with our friendly team of experts today.