I believe in the forecast that AI will converge to assembly (or machine code) in the next 5 to 10 years. However, there isn't a consensus on the ability for AI to program in interpreted languages like Python. In other words, AI needs to solve interpreted programming languages before directly generating low-level compiled languages.

The friction is that most developers aren't trained to comprehend assembly or otherwise. The vast majority of CS programs don't do it seriously. Many don't really know the difference either, and even I would need a refresher before trying to debug assembly.

I also think token cost restricts directly writing into assembly language. I've experimented with assembly output, as I'm sure many of us have, and can confirm small assembly programs produce more tokens as a result because of the lack of a standard library. However, because tokens are currently priced per million, I don't think it's a significant restraint.

The hops right now are Python -> C -> Assembly . The trend is now Rust/Go/C -> Assembly. Perhaps in the future, there will be nothing in the middle.