For programmers, even as AI adoption climbs, trust wanes

Programmers are using AI more than ever, but they don't like or trust the tools very much, according to the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey.

The survey of almost 50,000 developers found that 84% now use or plan to use AI tools in their workflow, up from last year (76%). Over half of professional developers (51%) use these tools daily. 

Also: The best AI for coding in 2025 (and what not to use)

Such figures might suggest that programmers must love AI. However, only 60% expressed positive sentiment toward AI tools, a proportion down from over 70% in both 2023 and 2024.

Distrust is a defining theme of the survey. In 2024, 43% of developers felt good about AI accuracy, and only 31% were skeptical. By 2025, 33% of developers trusted AI tool outputs, 46% expressed active distrust, and a mere 3% said they highly ...