"I Don't Use AI for Everything": Exploring Utility, Attitude, and Responsibility of AI-empowered Tools in Software Development

TL;DR

This study explores how software developers adopt and perceive AI-empowered tools, highlighting their utility, attitudes, and security concerns, based on interviews with practitioners across various sectors.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into AI tool adoption, developer attitudes, and security considerations in software development, offering practical recommendations for stakeholders.

Findings

Widespread adoption of AI tools across development stages

Developers see AI as an efficiency booster, not a job threat

Varying security risk awareness among practitioners

Abstract

AI-empowered tools have emerged as a transformative force, fundamentally reshaping the software development industry and promising far-reaching impacts across diverse sectors. This study investigates the adoption, impact, and security considerations of AI-empowered tools in the software development process. Through semi-structured interviews with 19 software practitioners from diverse backgrounds, we explore three key aspects: the utility of AI tools, developers' attitudes towards them, and security and privacy responsibilities. Our findings reveal widespread adoption of AI tools across various stages of software development. Developers generally express positive attitudes towards AI, viewing it as an efficiency-enhancing assistant rather than a job replacement threat. However, they also recognized limitations in AI's ability to handle complex, unfamiliar, or highly specialized tasks in software development. Regarding security and privacy, we found varying levels of risk awareness among developers, with larger companies implementing more comprehensive risk management strategies. Our study provides insights into the current state of AI adoption in software development and offers recommendations for practitioners, organizations, AI providers, and regulatory bodies to effectively navigate the integration of AI in the software industry.