FEATURE: CODING
Yet the survey shows concerns persist. 10 % of respondents said they’ re worried about how AI is being used in software development and 8 % expressed outright skepticism. Strikingly, only 8 % said they had no concerns at all.
The top anxieties developers reported include:
• Data privacy: 24 % worry about sensitive data being exposed or misused by AI systems.
• Job loss: 14 % fear displacement as more coding tasks become automated.
• Accuracy: 14 % are uneasy about trusting AIgenerated code.
This tension reflects an industry caught between optimism and caution. Developers are enjoying the productivity gains but remain wary of unintended consequences.
Over half believe AI codes better than humans The most striking finding in the survey is that 53 % of developers now believe LLMs can already code better than most humans.
On one hand, this is a sign of AI’ s rapid progress in generating syntactically correct, functional code at scale. On the other, it raises difficult questions about the role of human developers in the near future.
Some see AI as a natural evolution just as compilers, IDEs and version control once transformed the job. Others worry it could hollow out the early-career opportunities that help new developers build experience.
Mixed impact on junior developers
When asked how AI might affect entry into the profession, responses were divided.
• 45 % said AI might lower the barrier for junior developers by providing faster ways to learn and better tools.
• 37 % believed the opposite, saying it could make it harder for newcomers to compete or even get noticed since AI is automating the kind of work usually assigned to entry-level staff.
For many teams, AI is already reshaping hiring criteria. Instead of asking candidates to write boilerplate code, employers are now testing problem-solving skills, system design and the ability to guide and validate AIgenerated output.
This suggests that while AI may reduce the need for junior developers to handle repetitive tasks, it could accelerate their progression if used as a learning tool – provided companies structure training properly.
AI as a must-have skill
One of the strongest takeaways from the survey is the growing consensus that AI proficiency will soon be a non-negotiable skill for software professionals.
• 79 % of respondents said AI skills will be essential for developers in the near future.
• 76 % said they’ d be more likely to hire a candidate with AI expertise.
Junior developers in the AI era
• 45 %: AI lowers the barrier for entry
• 37 %: AI makes it harder to break in
• Nearly 50 %: Believe AI threatens the software field as a whole
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