Develop Yourself #263 - They're Lying to You About AI Productivity: Hype vs Reality for Coders
Maybe I'm just coping.
Maybe.
I’ve been pretty vocal about the over-hype of AI coding tools and I always get the same responses from AI bros:
“YoU gOtta PrOmpt bEtteR!”
“This iz a skillz issue dawg”“I’m using [x] and it works perfectly”
“I’m a super duper senior architect and I’ve replaced my entire team with AI agents. You’re coping.”
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t doubt myself.
Maybe they’re right, maybe I’m just not using these tools correctly.
Let’s take a look at some big fax and small fax to understand where the truth ends and the hype begins.
Sources:
TrueUp Software Engineering Job Trends (June 2025)
Business Insider: Google engineers just 10% more productive with AI (June 2025)
Computerworld: Minimal productivity gains from AI chatbots
TechRepublic: IBM Study on AI ROI (2025)
https://metr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-study/
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