Developer Warns AI Code Assistants Create Productivity Illusion

Subjective feelings of AI productivity often mask measurable slowdowns and unsustainable vendor subsidies, threatening a steep reality check once real compute costs are billed.

• –Empirical studies contradict personal anecdotes, revealing a discrepancy between developer perception of speed and actual task completion rates.
• –Flat-rate AI subscriptions heavily subsidize API compute, concealing the true economic cost that would drastically change user adoption if priced at cost.
• –Uncritical AI hype overlooks substantial externalities including massive energy consumption, data center community disruption, and unresolved intellectual property concerns.