The Biggest Risk in AI-Assisted Coding Might Be Your Own Brain

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A 2025 randomized trial found experienced developers were 19% slower with AI tools while believing they were 20% faster. METR has since marked those results out
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A 2025 randomized trial found experienced developers were 19% slower with AI tools while believing they were 20% faster. METR has since marked those results out of date, and its follow-up was unreliable, so the speed question is open. The perception gap is the lasting finding. This piece uses psychology (fluency, automation bias, the IKEA effect) to explain it and offers a workflow to counter it.