The Impact of AI on Developer Productivity: Evidence from GitHub Copilot

Sida Peng; Eirini Kalliamvakou; Peter Cihon; Mert Demirer

The Impact of AI on Developer Productivity: Evidence from GitHub Copilot

Software Engineering 2023-02-14 v1

Authors: Sida Peng , Eirini Kalliamvakou , Peter Cihon , Mert Demirer

Abstract

Generative AI tools hold promise to increase human productivity. This paper presents results from a controlled experiment with GitHub Copilot, an AI pair programmer. Recruited software developers were asked to implement an HTTP server in JavaScript as quickly as possible. The treatment group, with access to the AI pair programmer, completed the task 55.8% faster than the control group. Observed heterogenous effects show promise for AI pair programmers to help people transition into software development careers.

Keywords

agile software development software engineering human-computer interaction

Cite

@article{arxiv.2302.06590,
  title  = {The Impact of AI on Developer Productivity: Evidence from GitHub Copilot},
  author = {Sida Peng and Eirini Kalliamvakou and Peter Cihon and Mert Demirer},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.06590},
  year   = {2023}
}

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