Coders are refusing to work without AI — and that could come back to bite them | TechCrunch
In 2026, you cannot snatch AI coding tools out of developers’ vice-grip hands, researchers have discovered.
But while AI is undoubtedly helping coders produce code faster, it may not be producing better code, other researchers warn. And that could cause problems down the road for them.
Specifically, in February 2026, respected AI research lab METR published a surprising revelation: most developers won’t work, even on a limited number of tasks, without AI anymore.
METR had hoped to provide an update to some groundbreaking research published a few months earlier, in 2025, on AI coding productivity. In it, researchers measured how much time open source developers took to do tasks by hand versus with AI.
While developers in that study reported that AI was making them more productive, they were shocked to learn it actually slowed them down. Sure, it generated code faster, but then they spent extra time finding and fixing errors, steering the AI and waiting on it to complete tasks.
When METR set out to repeat the experiment to measure advances in AI and coder proficiency, they couldn’t.
Devs weren’t willing to participate “because they do not wish to work without AI” even just for the study, the researchers confessed.
Instead, METR published a survey in May that allowed technical employees to self-report their AI productivity gains. Not surprisingly, they perceived that AI made them twice as valuable to their organizations.
But recent headlines about the wild expense of so-called tokenmaxxing, coupled with a smattering of recent research, make such self-perceptions dubious.
Tokenmaxxing, or using the number of tokens a person uses as a proxy for productivity with AI, has been the trend of 2026 so far. And it may already be over.
Amazon shut down its internal token-tracking leaderboard called Kirorank after employees were gaming it by using AI agents excessively, and running up costs, the Financial Times reported this week. The employees proved that AI use does not automatically translate to increased productivity.
Uber blew through its 2026 AI budget within the first four months of the year, The Information reported. COO Andrew Macdonald recently said on a podcast that such spending hadn’t led to a measurable increase in projects or productivity.
AI-generated code also doesn’t necessarily reduce ongoing code maintenance needs, and may even increase it, programmer and author James Shore elegantly argued in a blog post that went viral on Hacker News.
“You write code twice as quick now? Better hope you’ve halved your maintenance costs,” he wrote. “Otherwise, you’re screwed. You’re trading a temporary speed boost for permanent indenture.”
There’s other evidence that AI can increases code maintenance woes.
A viral tweet from Aiswarya Sankar, founder and CEO of reliability engineering agent startup Entelligence AI, proclaims that companies are spending 44% of their tokens on bug fixes that their AI generated. Code reviewing tool company Code Rabbit says it analyzed open source pull requests and found that AI produced 1.7x more problems than human code.
Those are, admittedly, self-serving stats from those trying to sell AI code reviewing tools.
Yet independent researchers have also found such issues. Researchers from the respected Singapore Management University published a report in April warning that “AI-generated code can introduce long-term maintenance costs into real software projects.”
Given that programmers love their AI assistants, what’s the solution?
Well, those who want to sell you AI coding agents say devs can just use AI coding agents to do the bone wearing tasks of fixing code as fast as AI spits it out. That’s what Cognition founder CEO Scott Wu suggests, maker of AI coding agent Devin.
But even he admits that, while Devin can work independently, he’d currently rate its skill between a junior and mid-level programmer, depending on the task. This is not a hand-it-off and forget it solution.
The SMU researchers suggest a more human approach. Programmers should know what tasks AI does and doesn’t do well as deeply as they know their favorite coding languages. They need strong quality assurance systems designed for AI and they are stuck with carefully reviewing the AI’s work as if it was a junior dev.
Meanwhile, the researchers say (and Wu agrees), humans should still be doing the big-picture work like software architecture and security design.
In 2026, you cannot snatch AI coding tools out of developers’ vice-grip hands, researchers have discovered.
But while AI is undoubtedly helping coders produce code faster, it may not be producing better code, other researchers warn. And that could cause problems down the road for them.
Specifically, in February 2026, respected AI research lab METR published a surprising revelation: most developers won’t work, even on a limited number of tasks, without AI anymore.
METR had hoped to provide an update to some groundbreaking research published a few months earlier, in 2025, on AI coding productivity. In it, researchers measured how much time open source developers took to do tasks by hand versus with AI.
While developers in that study reported that AI was making them more productive, they were shocked to learn it actually slowed them down. Sure, it generated code faster, but then they spent extra time finding and fixing errors, steering the AI and waiting on it to complete tasks.
When METR set out to repeat the experiment to measure advances in AI and coder proficiency, they couldn’t.
Devs weren’t willing to participate “because they do not wish to work without AI” even just for the study, the researchers confessed.
Instead, METR published a survey in May that allowed technical employees to self-report their AI productivity gains. Not surprisingly, they perceived that AI made them twice as valuable to their organizations.
But recent headlines about the wild expense of so-called tokenmaxxing, coupled with a smattering of recent research, make such self-perceptions dubious.
Tokenmaxxing, or using the number of tokens a person uses as a proxy for productivity with AI, has been the trend of 2026 so far. And it may already be over.
Amazon shut down its internal token-tracking leaderboard called Kirorank after employees were gaming it by using AI agents excessively, and running up costs, the Financial Times reported this week. The employees proved that AI use does not automatically translate to increased productivity.
Uber blew through its 2026 AI budget within the first four months of the year, The Information reported. COO Andrew Macdonald recently said on a podcast that such spending hadn’t led to a measurable increase in projects or productivity.
AI-generated code also doesn’t necessarily reduce ongoing code maintenance needs, and may even increase it, programmer and author James Shore elegantly argued in a blog post that went viral on Hacker News.
“You write code twice as quick now? Better hope you’ve halved your maintenance costs,” he wrote. “Otherwise, you’re screwed. You’re trading a temporary speed boost for permanent indenture.”
There’s other evidence that AI can increases code maintenance woes.
A viral tweet from Aiswarya Sankar, founder and CEO of reliability engineering agent startup Entelligence AI, proclaims that companies are spending 44% of their tokens on bug fixes that their AI generated. Code reviewing tool company Code Rabbit says it analyzed open source pull requests and found that AI produced 1.7x more problems than human code.
Those are, admittedly, self-serving stats from those trying to sell AI code reviewing tools.
Yet independent researchers have also found such issues. Researchers from the respected Singapore Management University published a report in April warning that “AI-generated code can introduce long-term maintenance costs into real software projects.”
Given that programmers love their AI assistants, what’s the solution?
Well, those who want to sell you AI coding agents say devs can just use AI coding agents to do the bone wearing tasks of fixing code as fast as AI spits it out. That’s what Cognition founder CEO Scott Wu suggests, maker of AI coding agent Devin.
But even he admits that, while Devin can work independently, he’d currently rate its skill between a junior and mid-level programmer, depending on the task. This is not a hand-it-off and forget it solution.
The SMU researchers suggest a more human approach. Programmers should know what tasks AI does and doesn’t do well as deeply as they know their favorite coding languages. They need strong quality assurance systems designed for AI and they are stuck with carefully reviewing the AI’s work as if it was a junior dev.
Meanwhile, the researchers say (and Wu agrees), humans should still be doing the big-picture work like software architecture and security design.
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#Coders #refusing #work #AIand #bite #TechCrunch



![A24 Wants You to Be Nice About Its Google AI Deal
Earlier this week, we learned A24 entered a research partnership with Google’s DeepMind unit. The reactions were… not happy, to say the least. And like many who’ve let generative AI into their hearts, the film studio’s now left playing defense for its widely panned decision. In a statement to Wired, A24’s communications rep Sophia Shin stressed the “research” part of its Google partnership. “We’re working side-by-side with DeepMind’s researchers to learn, iterate, and build, having an active hand in shaping new tools and workflows,” she explained. “This is about learning and helping pain points in workflows behind the scenes. […] It exists because we want to dictate what tools get built for artists, so they have a voice in shaping them rather than having tools handed to them. While acknowledging A24 doesn’t love “any of the current AI outputs onscreen in Hollywood,” Shin considers this partnership a bit of a necessary evil. “We’d rather have a seat at the table than on the sidelines,” she stated. The promise of further artist agency and “a seat at the table” are common shields from genAI users, but it doesn’t seem to be working here. Fans consider this move ironic and a betrayal, given Backrooms director Kane Parsons recently called the tech “cultural and economic rot” and wished he could just snap it out of existence.
Before that, the studio didn’t seem to have much interest in generative AI. In 2024, it came under fire for using the tech to create posters for Civil War, while months later, its horror film Heretic had a disclaimer promising it wasn’t made with the technology. But Hollywood’s become gradually more accepting of generative AI and its supposed potential for the filmmaking process. In that sense, maybe it was inevitable for A24 to fall in line. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #A24 #Nice #Google #DealA24,generative ai,Google DeepMind A24 Wants You to Be Nice About Its Google AI Deal
Earlier this week, we learned A24 entered a research partnership with Google’s DeepMind unit. The reactions were… not happy, to say the least. And like many who’ve let generative AI into their hearts, the film studio’s now left playing defense for its widely panned decision. In a statement to Wired, A24’s communications rep Sophia Shin stressed the “research” part of its Google partnership. “We’re working side-by-side with DeepMind’s researchers to learn, iterate, and build, having an active hand in shaping new tools and workflows,” she explained. “This is about learning and helping pain points in workflows behind the scenes. […] It exists because we want to dictate what tools get built for artists, so they have a voice in shaping them rather than having tools handed to them. While acknowledging A24 doesn’t love “any of the current AI outputs onscreen in Hollywood,” Shin considers this partnership a bit of a necessary evil. “We’d rather have a seat at the table than on the sidelines,” she stated. The promise of further artist agency and “a seat at the table” are common shields from genAI users, but it doesn’t seem to be working here. Fans consider this move ironic and a betrayal, given Backrooms director Kane Parsons recently called the tech “cultural and economic rot” and wished he could just snap it out of existence.
Before that, the studio didn’t seem to have much interest in generative AI. In 2024, it came under fire for using the tech to create posters for Civil War, while months later, its horror film Heretic had a disclaimer promising it wasn’t made with the technology. But Hollywood’s become gradually more accepting of generative AI and its supposed potential for the filmmaking process. In that sense, maybe it was inevitable for A24 to fall in line. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #A24 #Nice #Google #DealA24,generative ai,Google DeepMind](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/03/Backrooms-1280x853.jpg)
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