‘Almost Right, But Not Quite’: Developers Are Growing Wary of AI Tools

Despite rising adoption, developer trust in AI tools is slipping, with confidence in their accuracy dropping sharply from 2024 to 2025.

AI tools are more popular than ever. However, trust in this technology is eroding among developers.

While 84% of developers now use AI tools, a growing number — 46% — say they do not trust the accuracy of the tool’s output, according to a new survey by Stack Overflow. This is a stark rise in distrust from 31% in 2024.

What stood out was “the noticeable decline in developers’ overall perception and trust in AI tools, particularly when compared to previous years,’’ Erin Yepis, senior analyst, market research and insights at Stack Overflow, told TechRepublic in an email. “Despite AI adoption increasing for the third year in a row, its popularity has slipped — only 60% of respondents now view AI tools favorably or very favorably, down from ...