What Do Developers Think of AI Coding Tools in 2026?

I had a question last evening: what do developers think of AI coding tools in 2026? What I found could not be more divided.

Six months into the year, it feels like we have leapfrogged multiple cycles in AI development, especially in coding. And the industry keeps pushing us to go even faster.

So I dove into the State of AI 2026 survey from Devographics. Developers say AI now writes 54% of their code, up from 28% last year, and about twice as many say they use it constantly.

The survey shows many developers are worried about job security. 64% call hallucinations a top pain point, 53% call out code quality, and 68% agree that relying on AI tools will result in less skilled developers overall. So we are relying more on tools we know can be wrong, while also worrying they could replace us or slowly weaken our skills.

In my day to day work, I see that AI is rewriting how we build software, but it does not remove the need for engineers who reason well, design solid systems, and care about code quality and security. We need people who move fast with AI, but do not outsource their critical thinking.

If you write code or lead engineers, how is using more AI changing the way you think about your job, your skills, and code quality?