Experienced software developers assumed AI would save them a chunk of time. But in one experiment, their tasks took 20% longer

A man works at a table with a laptop on it. A projector in the background displays code. (Credit: Getty Images)

• AI tools don’t always boost productivity. A recent study from Model Evaluation and Threat Research found that when 16 software developers were asked to perform tasks using AI tools, they took longer than when they weren’t using the technology, despite their expectations AI would boost productivity. The research challenges the dominant narrative of AI driving a workplace efficiency boost.

It’s like a new telling of the “Tortoise and the Hare”: A group of experienced software engineers entered into an experiment in which they were tasked with completing some of their work with the help of AI tools. Thinking like the speedy hare, the developers expected AI to expedite their work and increase productivity. Instead, the technology slowed them down. The AI-free tortoise approach, in the context of the experiment, would have been faster.