---
title: "How good are AI tools at complex tasks — AI data 2026"
url: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-complex
year: 2026
chapter: "ai"
question: "AIComplex"
section: "Trust in AI and other trends"
licence: "ODbL 1.0 (https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/)"
---

# How good are AI tools at complex tasks

Only 16% say AI handles complex tasks very well; 39% say “good, but not great.” Daily users are much more positive, while 45% of infrequent users rate performance bad or very poor.

Asked as: How well do the AI tools or AI agents you use in your development workflow handle complex tasks? (`AIComplex`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

## Options offered

1. Very well at handling complex tasks
2. Good, but not great at handling complex tasks
3. Neither good or bad at handling complex tasks
4. Bad at handling complex tasks
5. Very poor at handling complex tasks
6. I don't use AI tools for complex tasks / I don't know

## Results

### All Respondents

n = 14,341

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Very well at handling complex tasks | 2,288 | 16.0% |
| Good, but not great at handling complex tasks | 5,564 | 38.8% |
| Neither good or bad at handling complex tasks | 2,067 | 14.4% |
| Bad at handling complex tasks | 2,299 | 16.0% |
| Very poor at handling complex tasks | 1,141 | 8.0% |
| I don't use AI tools for complex tasks / I don't know | 982 | 6.9% |

### Daily AI Users

n = 10,849

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Very well at handling complex tasks | 2,139 | 19.7% |
| Good, but not great at handling complex tasks | 4,734 | 43.6% |
| Neither good or bad at handling complex tasks | 1,470 | 13.6% |
| Bad at handling complex tasks | 1,489 | 13.7% |
| Very poor at handling complex tasks | 575 | 5.3% |
| I don't use AI tools for complex tasks / I don't know | 442 | 4.1% |

### Weekly AI Users

n = 2,646

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Very well at handling complex tasks | 116 | 4.4% |
| Good, but not great at handling complex tasks | 717 | 27.1% |
| Neither good or bad at handling complex tasks | 467 | 17.7% |
| Bad at handling complex tasks | 624 | 23.6% |
| Very poor at handling complex tasks | 379 | 14.3% |
| I don't use AI tools for complex tasks / I don't know | 343 | 13.0% |

### Monthly/Infrequent AI Users

n = 817

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Very well at handling complex tasks | 31 | 3.8% |
| Good, but not great at handling complex tasks | 105 | 12.9% |
| Neither good or bad at handling complex tasks | 120 | 14.7% |
| Bad at handling complex tasks | 182 | 22.3% |
| Very poor at handling complex tasks | 184 | 22.5% |
| I don't use AI tools for complex tasks / I don't know | 195 | 23.9% |

In context: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data.md