Developers are relying more on AI coding tools, making it difficult to run productivity tests without them, a report said. Research group METR found participants felt AI boosted productivity, but measured results showed overall work slowed due to fixing errors and waiting for outputs. A repeat experiment was changed after developers resisted working without AI. Companies have questioned self-assessments as AI usage costs rise, while studies warn of higher long-term maintenance burdens.

Scott Wu, CEO of Cognition, which developed the AI coding agent Devin, said the tool is not intended to replace human developers but to raise their productivity. He said Devin aims to handle end-to-end development work and is most valuable for maintenance tasks developers tend to avoid. Wu also cautioned against inflated expectations, describing Devin as between junior and mid-level engineers, and stressed that humans must retain final decision-making authority.