GitHub’s annual developer survey, which it launched for the first time last year, shows that a majority of developers (97%) have used an AI coding tool at some point, but perceptions of the technology vary country to country.
For its survey, GitHub surveyed 2,000 developers from the U.S., Brazil, Germany, and India, with an equal number of participants from each country.
The company found that the usage of AI coding tools at work was consistent among the countries, but companies’ attitudes and policies for AI vary widely. For instance, in the U.S., 88% of respondents said their company supports AI use at some level, while in Germany only 59% said the same.
Developers from the U.S. and India in particular believe AI increases code quality, with 90% and 81% of respondents, respectively, saying it either significantly or somewhat increases quality. In Brazil, only 62% believe AI improves quality, and in Germany, only 60% said so.
Brazilian and German devs also tended to be more neutral about the effect on code quality than the other two countries. When asked about the effect on code quality, the percentage that responded that it neither increases or decreases quality were 2% for the U.S., 18% in Brazil, 25% in Germany, and 9% in India.
Other interesting findings of the survey were that:
- 98% of respondents experimented with using AI for test case generation
- 99-100% predict AI will improve code security and development efficiency
- 99-100% also believe AI skills make job seekers more attractive to potential employers
“The potential of AI-driven software development is undeniable,” GitHub wrote in the report. “By prioritizing a strategic approach that balances innovation, security, and organizational alignment, we can unlock its full potential—and this is an exciting time for engineering leaders to leverage these advancements and propel their engineering teams forward.”
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