This study on the impact of AI on perceived developer productivity is making the rounds. I find @simon, Quentin Anthony, and @gergelyorosz’s take the most interesting.

My personal theory is that getting a significant productivity boost from LLM assistance and AI tools has a much steeper learning curve than most people expect.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44523442

It’s super easy to get distracted in the downtime while LLMs are generating. The social media attention economy is brutal, and I think people spend 30 mins scrolling while “waiting” for their 30-second generation.

x.com/QuentinAnthon15

I cannot stay in the zone when using a time-saving AI coding tool; I need to do something else while code is being generated, so context switches are forced, and each one slows me down. It’s a distraction.

Cursor makes developers less effective?

I can confirm the danger of getting distracted when working with AI. I’ve learnt and continue to learn how to best leverage Cursor in my daily work. I know its impact on my productivity is very different depending on the projects I work on. I know I must use Cursor differently depending on the codebase I work with. I know I’m not as productive as I would like with some project types, because I haven’t found the best way to organize my work yet.

But I think the same was true when I worked without the help of AI.