I said this when the linked paper was shared and got downvotes: it's based on early 2025 data. My point isn't that it should be completely up to date, but that how we need to consider it in that context. This is pre Claude 4, Claude Code. Pre Gemini 2.5 even. These models are such a big step up from what came previously.

Just like we put a (2023) on articles here so they are considered in the right context, so too this paper should be. Blanket "AI tools slow sown development" statements with a "look this rigorous paper says so!" is ignoring a key variable: the rate of effectiveness improvement. If said paper evaluated with the current models, the picture would be different. Also in 3 months time. AI tools aren't a static thing that either works or don't indefinitely.