Trust in AI tools — AI data 2026 | Stack Overflow Developer Survey

Developer Survey 2026

Question

How much do you trust the output from AI tools or AI agents as part of your workflow?

single select
Optional
v2026.1

Data

	Respondents	Percent
I trust it when I can easily verify the output	6,872	48.0%
I trust it for many tasks, but not important work decisions	2,329	16.3%
I trust it for low-risk work tasks only	2,326	16.3%
I do not trust it for most work tasks	1,754	12.3%
I trust it for many tasks, including important work decisions	949	6.6%
Not sure / I do not use AI tools	74	0.5%

Use this data

Citation

Response data is released under the ODbL 1.0, which asks that you attribute it.

Stack Exchange Inc. (2026). “Trust in AI tools”. Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026. Licensed under ODbL 1.0. https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-trust

JSON

Structured for code, with the question, the year and the source url alongside the numbers.

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  "question": "Trust in AI tools",
  "dataId": "AITrust",
  "asked": "How much do you trust the output from AI tools or AI agents as part of your workflow?",
  "year": "2026",
  "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data/ai-trust",
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  "data": [
    {
      "response": "I trust it when I can easily verify the output",
      "count": 6872,
      "pct": 0.48
    },
    {
      "response": "I trust it for many tasks, but not important work decisions",
      "count": 2329,
      "pct": 0.163
    },
    {
      "response": "I trust it for low-risk work tasks only",
      "count": 2326,
      "pct": 0.163
    },
    {
      "response": "I do not trust it for most work tasks",
      "count": 1754,
      "pct": 0.123
    },
    {
      "response": "I trust it for many tasks, including important work decisions",
      "count": 949,
      "pct": 0.066
    },
    {
      "response": "Not sure / I do not use AI tools",
      "count": 74,
      "pct": 0.005
    }
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}

Markdown

A formatted table, ready to paste into a document, an issue or a prompt.

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| I trust it when I can easily verify the output | 6,872 | 48.0% |
| I trust it for many tasks, but not important work decisions | 2,329 | 16.3% |
| I trust it for low-risk work tasks only | 2,326 | 16.3% |
| I do not trust it for most work tasks | 1,754 | 12.3% |
| I trust it for many tasks, including important work decisions | 949 | 6.6% |
| Not sure / I do not use AI tools | 74 | 0.5% |

Spreadsheet

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