--- title: Study: Developers are addicted to AI, and managers are... description: A survey of over 300 developers who use AI coding tools weekly finds 80% describe their relationship with AI as more like dependence than an advantage, with... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/study-developers-are-addicted-to-ai-and-managers-are-making-it-worse-myvzpnxm9 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Study: Developers are addicted to AI, and managers are making it worse | daily.dev og:description: A survey of over 300 developers who use AI coding tools weekly finds 80% describe their relationship with AI as more like dependence than an advantage, with... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/study-developers-are-addicted-to-ai-and-managers-are-making-it-worse-myvzpnxm9 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/mYvzPnxm9.png og:image:alt: Study: Developers are addicted to AI, and managers are making it worse og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Study: Developers are addicted to AI, and managers are making it worse **[The New Stack](https://daily.dev/sources/newstack)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A survey of over 300 developers who use AI coding tools weekly finds 80% describe their relationship with AI as more like dependence than an advantage, with 43% unable to step away even after work hours. Behaviorist psychology (Skinner box conditioning) is used to explain why AI coding loops feel addictive, with OpenAI Codex showing the highest after-hours coding rate (62%) versus Gemini (45%), Claude Code (40%), and GitHub Copilot (36%). Managers reportedly reward the heaviest AI users with raises and promotions even though 71% of developers admitted shipping code they didn't fully understand, creating incentives that push other developers to mimic the same risky behavior. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Which AI coding tool has the highest rate of after-hours usage among developers? OpenAI Codex has the highest after-hours coding rate at 62%, compared to Google Gemini at 45%, Claude Code at 40%, and GitHub Copilot at 36%. This pattern suggests Codex's workflow may more strongly trigger the stimulus-reward cycle that keeps developers coding beyond normal work hours. _Developers weighing AI coding tools by their effect on work-life balance can track findings like this on daily.dev._ ### What percentage of developers ship AI-generated code they don't fully understand? 71% of developers reported shipping code they didn't fully understand, according to a survey of over 300 developers who use AI coding tools at least weekly. Despite this, the heaviest AI users were more likely to receive raises and promotions, suggesting managers are rewarding usage volume over comprehension and code quality. _Teams rethinking how they evaluate AI-assisted work can follow this debate on daily.dev._ ### How many developers describe their relationship with AI coding tools as addictive? 80% of developers describe their relationship with AI coding tools as more like a dependence than an advantage, according to a survey of developers who use AI at least weekly. 43% reported being unable to stop using AI tools even after reaching home time, with many skipping breaks, meals, or bedtime during coding sessions. _Developers concerned about sustainable AI-assisted workflows can follow this discussion on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [AI coding is addictive. Engineers are paying the price](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-coding-is-addictive-engineers-are-paying-the-price-sbotev3ry) · LeadDev · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Coders are refusing to work without AI — and that could come back to bite them](https://daily.dev/posts/coders-are-refusing-to-work-without-ai-and-that-could-come-back-to-bite-them-fsaqaup1r) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity), [#leadership](https://daily.dev/tags/leadership), [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding), [#claude-code](https://daily.dev/tags/claude-code) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/study-developers-are-addicted-to-ai-and-managers-are-making-it-worse-myvzpnxm9) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Study: Developers are addicted to AI, and managers are making it worse","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/study-developers-are-addicted-to-ai-and-managers-are-making-it-worse-myvzpnxm9","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/study-developers-are-addicted-to-ai-and-managers-are-making-it-worse-myvzpnxm9"},"datePublished":"2026-09-17T15:18:06.077Z","dateModified":"2026-09-17T15:18:55.425Z","description":"A survey of over 300 developers who use AI coding tools weekly finds 80% describe their relationship with AI as more like dependence than an advantage, with...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/850fc3ae1f56d5d8218e14cbe0025a11?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/850fc3ae1f56d5d8218e14cbe0025a11?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The New Stack","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The New Stack","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/newstack","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/newstack"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/study-developers-are-addicted-to-ai-and-managers-are-making-it-worse-myvzpnxm9","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"github,productivity,leadership,ai-coding,claude-code","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The New Stack","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/newstack"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Study: Developers are addicted to AI, and managers are making it worse"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/study-developers-are-addicted-to-ai-and-managers-are-making-it-worse-myvzpnxm9#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Which AI coding tool has the highest rate of after-hours usage among developers?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"OpenAI Codex has the highest after-hours coding rate at 62%, compared to Google Gemini at 45%, Claude Code at 40%, and GitHub Copilot at 36%. 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