Tag: Productivity

Does A.I. help or slow down developers?

Is AI Slowing Down Senior Developers—and Is It Worth It for Business?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chatbot-based coding assistants promise to enhance productivity in the workplace. Yet emerging evidence suggests that experienced developers often experience slower performance when using these tools—and this raises important questions about their usefulness in high-skill business contexts.

What the Research Shows: Senior Developers May Be Slower with AI

  • A controlled trial by METR involving 16 veteran developers using tools like Cursor Pro and Claude Sonnet found that AI increased task completion time by ~19%, despite participants expecting a 20–24% speed-up. Time was lost reviewing and correcting flawed outputs and dealing with context mismatches.
  • Another controlled Google study with 96 full-time engineers found a 21% reduction in time spent, but specifically observed that developers with more code experience benefited more—suggesting the effectiveness of AI varies significantly across experience levels .

Broader Industry Findings: Productivity Gains Are Real—but Uneven

  • Stack Overflow’s Developer Survey (2024): Most users report satisfaction and perceived productivity increases with tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT. However, 38% of users say the code was inaccurate half the time, and many questioned reliability. Nearly half believe AI performs poorly on complex tasks, with mistrust of output (66%) and lack of project context (63%) commonly cited issues.
  • Qodo’s AI code quality report (June 2025): 78% of developers say AI tools improved productivity, but 65% say AI misses critical task context, and 76% don’t fully trust generated code—necessitating manual review that slows workflows.
  • LeadDev Engineering Leadership Report (June 2025): Among 617 senior engineering leaders surveyed, only 6% saw significant productivity improvements from coding AIs, and 39% observed small gains of 1–10%.

Experimental Studies: Junior vs. Senior Developer Benefit

  • A McKinsey case study shows generative AI can cut time spent on tasks like documentation or refactoring by up to 50%, but carries warning that domain-specific complexities require careful implementation for sustained benefits.
  • In a field experiment at Microsoft and Accenture, Copilot users generated 26% more pull requests per week, but productivity gains were significantly higher for junior developers; senior developers saw no statistically significant improvement in several cases.
  • Another randomized experiment reported tasks completed nearly 56% faster when using AI pair programming—though this largely benefitted less experienced users.
  • MIT Sloan analysis similarly found that AI assistance yields small speed gains but slight quality reductions for highly experienced professionals, while lifting both speed and quality for lower-skilled workers.

Why Do Senior Developers Often Slow Down?

  • Context mismatch: AI lacks deep awareness of proprietary codebases, architectural patterns, and business logic—leading to suggestions that require heavy validation or rejection.
  • Review overhead: Experienced developers report spending more time verifying and cleaning AI output than writing code manually—especially for complex or critical tasks (IT Pro, TIME).
  • Trust gap: Many professionals don’t fully trust AI-generated code, especially in high-stakes production environments, which undermines adoption (PR Newswire).

Should Businesses Still Use AI Tools?

Yes—but with caution. The value of AI tools depends heavily on the user and task:

  • For junior or less experienced developers, or for well-scoped repetitive tasks like documentation, boilerplate, or initial prototyping, studies consistently show meaningful productivity gains (20–50%).
  • For senior professionals, the benefits are far smaller—and may even reverse, especially when tools are applied to complex, context-rich tasks. Manual overhead and mistrust can outweigh any time saved.
  • In other domains such as support, marketing, or finance, composable AI has been shown experimentally to improve throughput on common tasks by ~15% on average—but with greater gains for less-experienced employees. High-skill workers may see minimal benefit or slight quality tradeoffs.

Practical Guidelines for Businesses Considering AI

  1. Define clear use cases—focus on low-complexity, high-volume tasks where AI has demonstrated consistent gains.
  2. Involve senior staff early in evaluation and rollout to assess real-world fit.
  3. Provide training in prompt design and oversight—not just tool usage.
  4. Monitor real productivity metrics—don’t rely solely on perceived or anecdotal improvements.
  5. Ensure human-in-the-loop review for complex areas to maintain code quality and security.

References

  1. Paradis et al. (Google RCT): ~21% faster development time with AI for some users (arXiv)
  2. METR real-world trial with seniors: AI increased task time ~19% (IT Pro)
  3. Stack Overflow Developer Survey: user satisfaction vs. accuracy concerns (codesignal.dev)
  4. Qodo report (June 2025): widespread adoption but major trust/context issues (PR Newswire)
  5. LeadDev Engineering Leadership Report: only 6% report major gains (LeadDev)
  6. McKinsey case study: time savings, dependent on domain complexity (McKinsey & Company)
  7. Field experiment at Microsoft/Accenture: 26% more PRs, junior-most gains (InfoQ)
  8. Lab experiment: 55.8% faster with AI pair programming for novices (arXiv)
  9. MIT Sloan / Brynjolfsson et al.: heterogeneity by skill (arXiv)

Final Thoughts

Yes, AI coding assistants and chatbots show real productivity benefits in controlled and real-world settings—but those gains are heavily skewed toward junior developers and routine tasks. For senior developers and complex workflows, current-generation tools may slow progress unless carefully scoped and managed. Businesses should adopt AI strategically—focusing on the right use cases, measuring actual impact, and preserving human oversight.

Managing Time and Staying Productive While Working Remotely

Working remotely has become a norm for many people in recent years, with the rise of technology making it easier to communicate and collaborate with colleagues from anywhere in the world. However, working remotely can also present its own set of challenges, one of which is managing time and staying productive.

One of the biggest challenges of working remotely is maintaining a clear boundary between work and personal life. Without the structure of a traditional office environment, it can be easy to get caught up in work and neglect other important aspects of life. To combat this, it’s important to set a schedule and stick to it. This includes setting specific times for starting and ending work, as well as taking breaks throughout the day.

Another key aspect of managing time and staying productive while working remotely is setting clear goals and priorities. Without the constant distractions of an office environment, it’s easy to get caught up in small tasks and lose track of what’s truly important. To avoid this, it’s important to set clear, measurable goals and to focus on the most important tasks first.

One of the best ways to stay productive while working remotely is to create a dedicated workspace. This could be a separate room or just a corner of a room, but the important thing is that it should be a designated area for work and nothing else. This will help to create a mental separation between work and personal life and will make it easier to focus on work when it’s time to do so.

Another important aspect of staying productive while working remotely is staying organized. This means keeping your workspace clean and tidy, as well as using tools such as calendars and task lists to keep track of your to-do’s.

Finally, it’s important to stay connected with your colleagues and team members, even if you’re working remotely. This can be done through regular video calls, instant messaging, or other forms of communication. Staying connected will help to ensure that you’re on the same page as your team, and will also make it easier to collaborate and get things done.

In conclusion, working remotely can present its own set of challenges, but by setting a schedule, setting clear goals and priorities, creating a dedicated workspace, staying organized, and staying connected with your colleagues, you can manage your time and stay productive. With a little bit of effort and discipline, it’s possible to thrive while working remotely.