The study also found that less experienced developers had higher adoption rates and experienced greater productivity gains from using the AI tool. The researchers suggest that generative AI tools like GitHub Copilot can significantly enhance productivity, especially among less experienced developers. The study's findings are available for review on SSRN.
Key takeaways:
- The study evaluates the impact of generative AI on software developer productivity using data from three randomized controlled trials conducted at Microsoft, Accenture, and an anonymous Fortune 100 electronics manufacturing company.
- A randomly selected subset of developers were provided with access to GitHub Copilot, an AI-based coding assistant that suggests intelligent code completions.
- Combined analysis across all three experiments and 4,867 software developers reveals a 26.08% increase in the number of completed tasks among developers using the AI tool.
- Less experienced developers showed higher adoption rates and greater productivity gains from using the AI tool.