2024 Developer Survey

3 AI

In this section we gain insight into the real sentiments behind the surge in AI popularity. Is it making a real impact in the way developers work or is it all hype?

3.1 Sentiment and usage

AI tools in the development process

76% of all respondents are using or are planning to use AI tools in their development process this year, an increase from last year (70%). Many more developers are currently using AI tools this year, too (62% vs. 44%).

Do you currently use AI tools in your development process? *
All Respondents Professional Developers Learning to Code Other Coders
All Respondents to-do Yes61.8%No, but I plan to soon13.8%No, and I don't plan to24.4%
Responses: 60,907 (93.1%)
Professional Developers to-do Yes63.2%No, but I plan to soon13.5%No, and I don't plan to23.4%
Responses: 46,049 (70.4%)
Learning to Code to-do Yes63%No, but I plan to soon12.8%No, and I don't plan to24.2%
Responses: 6,781 (10.4%)
Other Coders to-do Yes53.3%No, but I plan to soon16.6%No, and I don't plan to30.1%
Responses: 8,077 (12.3%)

AI tool sentiment

72% of all respondents are favorable or very favorable of AI tools for development. This is lower than last year's favorability of 77%; a decline in favorability could be due to disappointing results from usage.

How favorable is your stance on using AI tools as part of your development workflow?
All Respondents Professional Developers Learning to Code Other Coders
All Respondents to-do Very favorable23.6%Favorable48.3%Indifferent18.7%Unsure3%Unfavorable5.2%Very unfavorable1.2%
Responses: 45,873 (70.1%)
Professional Developers to-do Very favorable23.7%Favorable48.3%Indifferent18.9%Unsure2.7%Unfavorable5.3%Very unfavorable1.2%
Responses: 35,142 (53.7%)
Learning to Code to-do Very favorable22.4%Favorable49.8%Indifferent17.2%Unsure4.3%Unfavorable5.3%Very unfavorable1.1%
Responses: 5,102 (7.8%)
Other Coders to-do Very favorable24.6%Favorable47.3%Indifferent18.8%Unsure3.3%Unfavorable4.7%Very unfavorable1.4%
Responses: 5,629 (8.6%)

3.2 Developer tools

Benefits of AI tools

81% agree increasing productivity is the biggest benefit that developers identify for AI tools. Speeding up learning is seen as a bigger benefit to developers learning to code (71%) compared to professional developers (61%).

For the AI tools you use as part of your development workflow, what are the MOST important benefits you are hoping to achieve? Please check all that apply.
All Respondents Professional Developers Learning to Code Other Coders
All Respondents to-do Increase productivity81%Speed up learning62.4%Greater efficiency58.5%Improve accuracy in coding30.3%Make workload more manageable25%Improve collaboration7.8%
Responses: 36,894 (56.4%)
Professional Developers to-do Increase productivity82.7%Speed up learning60.8%Greater efficiency58.4%Improve accuracy in coding28.7%Make workload more manageable24.2%Improve collaboration7.5%
Responses: 28,515 (43.6%)
Learning to Code to-do Increase productivity73.7%Speed up learning70.8%Greater efficiency59.8%Improve accuracy in coding35.9%Make workload more manageable29.4%Improve collaboration8.9%
Responses: 4,166 (6.4%)
Other Coders to-do Increase productivity77.1%Speed up learning65.3%Greater efficiency58.1%Improve accuracy in coding34.9%Make workload more manageable26.4%Improve collaboration8.3%
Responses: 4,213 (6.4%)

Accuracy of AI tools

Similar to last year, developers remain split on whether they trust AI output: 43% feel good about AI accuracy and 31% are skeptical. Developers learning to code are trusting AI accuracy more than their professional counterparts (49% vs. 42%).

How much do you trust the accuracy of the output from AI tools as part of your development workflow?
All Respondents Professional Developers Learning to Code Other Coders
All Respondents to-do Highly trust2.7%Somewhat trust40.3%Neither trust nor distrust26.6%Somewhat distrust22.5%Highly distrust7.9%
Responses: 37,302 (57%)
Professional Developers to-do Highly trust2.3%Somewhat trust39.3%Neither trust nor distrust27.3%Somewhat distrust22.9%Highly distrust8.3%
Responses: 28,829 (44.1%)
Learning to Code to-do Highly trust4.2%Somewhat trust44.9%Neither trust nor distrust23.4%Somewhat distrust21.6%Highly distrust5.9%
Responses: 4,215 (6.4%)
Other Coders to-do Highly trust4.4%Somewhat trust43%Neither trust nor distrust24.7%Somewhat distrust20.8%Highly distrust7%
Responses: 4,258 (6.5%)

AI tools' ability to handle complex tasks

The development workflow is complicated, as the abundance of questions and answers on Stack Overflow can attest to. Almost half (45%) of professional developers believe AI tools are bad or very bad at handling complex tasks.

How well do the AI tools you use in your development workflow handle complex tasks?
All Respondents Professional Developers Learning to Code Other Coders
All Respondents to-do Very well at handling complex…3.3%Good, but not great at handlin…32.7%Neither good or bad at handlin…20.8%Bad at handling complex tasks31.3%Very poor at handling complex…11.9%
Responses: 37,021 (56.6%)
Professional Developers to-do Very well at handling complex…2.9%Good, but not great at handlin…31.5%Neither good or bad at handlin…20.9%Bad at handling complex tasks32.3%Very poor at handling complex…12.5%
Responses: 28,645 (43.8%)
Learning to Code to-do Very well at handling complex…4.4%Good, but not great at handlin…37.1%Neither good or bad at handlin…19.1%Bad at handling complex tasks28.5%Very poor at handling complex…10.9%
Responses: 4,166 (6.4%)
Other Coders to-do Very well at handling complex…5%Good, but not great at handlin…36.8%Neither good or bad at handlin…21.6%Bad at handling complex tasks27.6%Very poor at handling complex…9.1%
Responses: 4,210 (6.4%)

AI in the development workflow

Developers currently using AI tools mostly use them to write code (82%) and those who are interested but not yet using AI tools are mostly curious about testing code (46%). Developers with experience can trust AI tools to help write code to get started but perhaps know testing is a complex step best left to traditional processes.

Which parts of your development workflow are you currently using AI tools for and which are you interested in using AI tools for over the next year? Please select all that apply.
Currently Using Interested in Using Not Interested in Using
Currently Using to-do Writing code82%Search for answers67.5%Debugging and getting help56.7%Documenting code40.1%Generating content or syntheti…34.8%Learning about a codebase30.9%Testing code27.2%Committing and reviewing code13.2%Project planning12.2%Predictive analytics5.3%Deployment and monitoring4.5%
Responses: 35,978 (55%)
Interested in Using to-do Writing code9.2%Search for answers17.6%Debugging and getting help25.9%Documenting code38.2%Generating content or syntheti…33.1%Learning about a codebase40.6%Testing code46.2%Committing and reviewing code40.9%Project planning31.7%Predictive analytics39.8%Deployment and monitoring39.6%
Responses: 35,978 (55%)
Not Interested in Using to-do Writing code5.9%Search for answers8.1%Debugging and getting help9.1%Documenting code12.7%Generating content or syntheti…18.7%Learning about a codebase18.7%Testing code17.1%Committing and reviewing code32.9%Project planning42.3%Predictive analytics38.7%Deployment and monitoring40.6%
Responses: 35,978 (55%)

AI tools next year

In the next year, most developers agree that AI tools will be more integrated mostly in the ways they are documenting code (81%), testing code (80%), and writing code (76%).

Thinking about how your job and process changes over time, how integrated in your workflow do you anticipate AI tools you are currently using will be 1 year from now?
All Respondents Professional Developers Learning to Code Other Coders
All Respondents to-do 28.4% 44.6% 19.2% 3.8% 4%Committing and reviewing code 26.8% 50.5% 18.2% 2.6% 1.8%Debugging and getting help 27.2% 38.1% 21.1% 6.8% 6.8%Deployment and monitoring 32.8% 48% 14.9% 2.1% 2.1%Documenting code 33.7% 40.7% 21.1% 2.2% 2.2%Generating content or synthetic data 24.8% 48.8% 18.8% 4.1% 3.5%Learning about a codebase 29.9% 40.3% 20.2% 4.4% 5.3%Predictive analytics 23.6% 44.5% 22.6% 4.8% 4.4%Project planning 31.7% 46.2% 18.1% 2.1% 1.9%Search for answers 30.6% 49.3% 15.1% 2.5% 2.5%Testing code 24% 51.7% 19% 3.3% 2.1%Writing codeMuch more integratedMore integratedNo changeLess integratedMuch less integrated
Responses: 34,168 (52.2%)
Professional Developers to-do 28.5% 45% 18.8% 3.7% 4.1%Committing and reviewing code 26.1% 51.7% 18.3% 2.3% 1.7%Debugging and getting help 27.2% 39.3% 21.7% 5.9% 5.9%Deployment and monitoring 32.2% 49% 14.8% 1.9% 2.1%Documenting code 33.1% 41.4% 21.3% 2% 2.1%Generating content or synthetic data 24.2% 49.9% 18.9% 3.5% 3.4%Learning about a codebase 29.2% 40% 21.6% 4.2% 5%Predictive analytics 23.2% 45.5% 22.9% 4.2% 4.1%Project planning 30.9% 47.1% 18.4% 1.9% 1.7%Search for answers 30.4% 50.4% 14.8% 2.1% 2.3%Testing code 23.5% 52.5% 19.1% 2.9% 2%Writing codeMuch more integratedMore integratedNo changeLess integratedMuch less integrated
Responses: 26,600 (40.6%)
Learning to Code to-do 27.9% 43% 21.2% 5.3% 2.7%Committing and reviewing code 28% 46.6% 19% 4.3% 2.1%Debugging and getting help 24.2% 37.6% 21.5% 11.3% 5.4%Deployment and monitoring 35.1% 43.4% 16% 3.4% 2.2%Documenting code 36.1% 35.7% 22.8% 3.5% 1.9%Generating content or synthetic data 27.4% 44.4% 18.6% 6.5% 3.1%Learning about a codebase 30.4% 42.3% 17.3% 6.4% 3.6%Predictive analytics 24.2% 43.5% 21% 7.7% 3.6%Project planning 34.4% 41.4% 17.9% 3.8% 2.5%Search for answers 29.3% 43.2% 18.5% 5.7% 3.3%Testing code 24.6% 47.1% 19.4% 6.2% 2.8%Writing codeMuch more integratedMore integratedNo changeLess integratedMuch less integrated
Responses: 3,713 (5.7%)
Other Coders to-do 28.4% 44.1% 19.4% 2.9% 5.1%Committing and reviewing code 30.3% 47.5% 16.9% 2.8% 2.5%Debugging and getting help 29.9% 32.4% 17.9% 7.2% 12.6%Deployment and monitoring 35.4% 44.8% 14.8% 2.7% 2.3%Documenting code 36.2% 40.5% 17.4% 2.7% 3.1%Generating content or synthetic data 25.7% 46.7% 18.6% 4.7% 4.3%Learning about a codebase 32.4% 39.9% 16.6% 3.7% 7.4%Predictive analytics 25% 41% 23.2% 4.1% 6.7%Project planning 33.8% 45.2% 16.7% 1.9% 2.4%Search for answers 33.6% 43.9% 15.8% 3.5% 3.3%Testing code 26.5% 50.2% 17.4% 3.4% 2.5%Writing codeMuch more integratedMore integratedNo changeLess integratedMuch less integrated
Responses: 3,855 (5.9%)

3.3 Efficacy and Ethics

Are AI tools a threat to your job

70% of professional developers do not perceive AI as a threat to their job.

Do you believe AI is a threat to your current job?
All Respondents Professional Developers Learning to Code Other Coders
All Respondents to-do No68.3%I'm not sure19.6%Yes12.1%
Responses: 36,328 (55.5%)
Professional Developers to-do No69.6%I'm not sure18.7%Yes11.7%
Responses: 28,142 (43%)
Learning to Code to-do No57.9%I'm not sure27.1%Yes15%
Responses: 4,068 (6.2%)
Other Coders to-do No69.7%I'm not sure18.1%Yes12.2%
Responses: 4,118 (6.3%)

Most important ethical issues for AI

Misinformation and disinformation in AI results are a top ethical concern in this year's survey for 79% of developers. Source attribution is the next top ethical concern (65%) which Stack Overflow is working to protect for our community members.

Which AI ethical responsibilities are most important to you? Select all that apply.
All Respondents Professional Developers Learning to Code Other Coders
All Respondents to-do Circulating misinformation or…79.4%Missing or incorrect attributi…64.7%Biased results that do not rep…49.6%Imitating a person's likeness37.2%Energy demand36.3%Replacing jobs w/o options for…34.1%
Responses: 33,701 (51.5%)
Professional Developers to-do Circulating misinformation or…79.9%Missing or incorrect attributi…64.6%Biased results that do not rep…49.2%Imitating a person's likeness37.6%Energy demand36.9%Replacing jobs w/o options for…33.5%
Responses: 26,172 (40%)
Learning to Code to-do Circulating misinformation or…77%Missing or incorrect attributi…65.4%Biased results that do not rep…51.9%Replacing jobs w/o options for…40.6%Imitating a person's likeness33.8%Energy demand31.5%
Responses: 3,704 (5.7%)
Other Coders to-do Circulating misinformation or…78.2%Missing or incorrect attributi…64.5%Biased results that do not rep…50.2%Imitating a person's likeness37.6%Energy demand36.7%Replacing jobs w/o options for…32.3%
Responses: 3,825 (5.8%)

Challenges with AI at work

Professional developers agree the issue is not user error: twice as many professionals cite lack of trust or understanding the codebase as the top challenge of AI tools compared to proper training.

What are the challenges to your company/whole team using AI code assistants or GenAI tools? Select all that apply.
All Respondents Professional Developers Learning to Code Other Coders
All Respondents to-do Don’t trust the output or answ…66.2%AI tools lack context of codeb…63.3%We don’t have the right polici…31.5%Lack of proper training and ed…30.7%Not everyone uses them25.5%They create more work 12.9%Lack of executive buy-in11.5%
Responses: 30,661 (46.9%)
Professional Developers to-do Don’t trust the output or answ…66.1%AI tools lack context of codeb…64.6%We don’t have the right polici…31.9%Lack of proper training and ed…29.6%Not everyone uses them25.9%They create more work 12%Lack of executive buy-in11.9%
Responses: 24,496 (37.4%)
Learning to Code to-do Don’t trust the output or answ…67.8%AI tools lack context of codeb…59.4%Lack of proper training and ed…34.4%We don’t have the right polici…25.8%Not everyone uses them21.4%They create more work 19.2%Lack of executive buy-in8%
Responses: 2,845 (4.3%)
Other Coders to-do Don’t trust the output or answ…65.2%AI tools lack context of codeb…57.2%Lack of proper training and ed…35.8%We don’t have the right polici…33.5%Not everyone uses them25.7%They create more work 13.9%Lack of executive buy-in11.2%
Responses: 3,320 (5.1%)

AI at work in one year

Developers most frequently hypothesize the amount of time they spend on tasks with AI tools and the complexity of those tasks will be different one year from now.

By grouping open-ended responses into topics based on phrase patterns, we can see themes amongst developer responses.

Please describe how you would expect your workflow to be different, if at all, in 1 year as a result of AI advancements.
All Respondents to-do Seamless Time503Well Code427Complex Task416Able Code359Seamless Code259Well Integration243Repetitive Task194High Level189Simple Task175Able Task175
Responses: 15,136 (23.1%)
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