Developers Thought AI Made Them 24% Faster. They Were Actually 19% Slower.
Last Updated on January 26, 2026 by Editorial Team
Author(s): Ahmed M. Abdelfattah
Originally published on Towards AI.
16 developers. 246 real tasks. One randomized controlled trial. The results contradict everything vendors claim. and everything developers believe.
Same study. Same developers. Same tasks. Three numbers that shouldn’t exist together.
The article discusses a study conducted by METR, which found that developers using AI tools believed they were faster, yet measured results showed a 19% slowdown in productivity. The initial expectations were a 24% increase in speed, contrasting the perceived 20% increase, highlighting a significant gap in perception versus reality—39 percentage points. The study’s results suggest developers may feel more productive due to the enjoyment associated with AI tools, rather than actual output, leading to misleading assessments of AI’s effectiveness in software development.
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