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

The article discusses the impact of AI on productivity, particularly in the context of software development. While there has been growing research on AI tools’ perceptions and implications, little research has focused on their productivity effects in professional contexts. The study, therefore, uses a controlled trial of GitHub Copilot, an AI pair programmer that suggests code and entire functions in real-time based on context. The trial aims to investigate the effects of using GitHub Copilot on software development productivity. The results show that the treated group, which had access to GitHub Copilot, completed the task 55.8% faster than the control group, indicating statistically and practically significant results. The study also found that AI-pair programming is particularly beneficial for younger and less-experienced programmers. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the results for productivity research on AI-powered tools, its limitations, and future research directions on the broader economic impacts of AI-driven productivity.