Developers aren’t worried about AI taking their jobs, but are excited about the productivity gains
Employees are increasingly using artificial intelligence tools, with three quarters (76%) now using AI in their daily work, new research shows.
Stack Overflow has published a detailed analysis of the current state of AI adoption in the industry in its latest Develop Survey, which includes responses from over 65,000 developers across 185 countries. This is one of the most detailed and comprehensive studies of its kind.
However, the research serves as a reminder that the main benefit of AI is that it supports human workers, not replaces them entirely.
AI will help developers, not replace them
The research found that only two in five (43%) are confident in the accuracy of AI – a small increase of one percentage point compared to last year’s survey. The report also highlights AI’s inability to perform more complex tasks.
Despite widespread concerns about the technology’s potential, developers remain optimistic about its positive effects on productivity. Four in five (81%) cited increased productivity as the top benefit, with 71% of new programmers saying the technology accelerates their learning curve.
“The past year has made it clear that while GenAI is an incredibly powerful tool, it’s not a be-all, end-all solution to the problem that technologists and enterprises are trying to solve,” summarized Ryan Polk, Chief Product Officer at Stack Overflow.
On the other hand, many developers are still concerned about the potential for AI to spread misinformation (79%), missing or incorrect attribution of data sources (65%), and bias (50%).
As a result, the majority (70%) of professional developers do not see AI as a threat to their jobs.
Polk says companies need to think ahead about how developers perceive and integrate generative AI into their workflows so they can better meet their needs and increase productivity.