What AI is actually good for, according to developers

At GitHub, we hear questions all the time that probably sound familiar to you: Does AI really help, or are you just trying to get me to use your product? Can I trust AI tools with my codebase? Are these tools built for marketing, or for real productivity? Does AI improve my flow, or break it?

These questions are real and valid. I did a livestream for our regularly scheduled Rubber Duck Thursdays (which you should check out on GitHub's YouTube, Twitch, and/or LinkedIn weekly!) with Dalia Abo Sheasha, Senior Product Manager for Visual Studio, to talk about these things and more! Check it out, or read on for the highlights:

Centering developers, protecting flow

If you ask most software engineers what they most want out of a tool, the answer usually isn't "more automation." Most developers are looking for a smoother, less interrupted path toward flow, that state where code and ideas come easily. It's a fragile state. We've seen again and again that anything causing context-switching (even a well-meaning suggestion) can snap that flow.

With that in mind, at GitHub, we design and test our AI features where developers already work best: in their editor, the terminal, or the code review process. And we give developers ways to tune when, where, and how these tools make suggestions. Your tools should support your workflow, not disrupt it.

We want AI to help with the stuff that gets you out of flow and keeps you from building what matters. If a feature doesn't truly make your coding day better, we want to know, because the only good AI is AI that actually helps you.

Chat has its limits

It's tempting to believe that everything should be chat-driven. There's power in asking "Can you scaffold a template for me?" and getting an instant answer. But forcing all interaction into a chatbox is, ironically, a fast path to losing focus.

I'm required to switch my attention off my code to a different place where there's a chat where I'm talking in natural language. It's a huge burden on your brain to switch to that.

Dalia Abo Sheasha, Senior Product Manager, Visual Studio

For many developers, chat is better suited to on-demand tasks like code explanations or navigating frameworks. If chat panels get in the way, minimize or background them. Let the chat come to you when you actually have a question, but don't feel pressured to center your workflow around it.

Empowerment, not automation for its own sake

User data and developer interviews show us that effective AI empowers developers, but doesn't replace their judgment. Time and again, developers have told us what they really want is a way to skip repetitive scaffolding, boilerplate, and tedious documentation, while still holding the reins on architectural decisions, tricky bugs, and business logic.

As I explained during the stream:

Focus on different behaviors for different audiences. Senior developers already go fast, but you're trying to change their established behavior to help accelerate them. But for students, you're training a brand new behavior that hasn't been fully defined yet.

Use AI-generated explanations to deepen your own understanding. They should never be a replacement for your own analysis.

Cassidy Williams, GitHub Developer Advocate

And we want them to learn because the students—the early-career developers of today—are the senior developers of tomorrow, and everything's changing.

What stage are you in in the learning process? If you are at the very beginning and you are learning syntax and the fundamentals of programming, use it to explain the fundamentals so you can have that strong foundation.

Dalia Abo Sheasha

AI suggestions that blend in

AI truly shines when it works alongside you rather than in front of you. Developers tell us the most valuable AI experiences come from suggestions that surface contextually, such as suggesting a better function or variable name when you initiate a rename, or autocompleting boilerplate. In these moments, the AI tool feels like a helper handing you a useful snippet, not an intrusive force demanding attention.

Most AI assistants offer ways to adjust how often they pop up and how aggressive they are. Take a few minutes to find your comfort zone.

The human at the center

AI should be your tool, not your replacement. AI tools should empower you, not take over your workflow. We want AI to remove tedium by suggesting improvements, writing docs or tests, catching issues… not to disrupt your creative flow or autonomy.

The most critical ingredient in software is still the human developer: your insight, judgment, and experience.

Learning from failure

Not every AI feature lands well. Features that interrupt editing, flood the screen with pop-ups, or "help" while you're adjusting code in real time usually end up disabled by users, and often by us, too.

There is definitely a lot of AI fatigue right now. But there are also such good use cases, and we want those good use cases to float to the top … and figure out how we can solve those developer problems.

Cassidy Williams

If a suggestion pattern or popup is getting in your way, look for customization settings, and don't hesitate to let us know on social media or in our community discussion. Product teams rely heavily on direct developer feedback and telemetry to adjust what ships next.

Building with you, not just for you

Whether it's through beta testing, issue feedback, or direct interviews, your frustrations and "aha!" moments drive what we prioritize and refine. If you have feedback, share it with us! Sharing your experiences in public betas, contributing to feedback threads, or even just commenting on what annoyed you last week helps us build tools you'll want to use, not just tolerate. Your input shapes the roadmap, even in subtle ways you might not see.

Making the most of AI-driven coding

To get practical benefit from AI tools:

Understand and review what you accept. Even if an AI-produced suggestion looks convenient, make sure you know exactly what it does, especially for code that might affect security, architecture, or production reliability.

Use AI's "explain" features as a learning aid, not a shortcut. These can help you solidify your knowledge, but don't replace reading the docs or thinking things through.

Tweak the frequency and style of suggestions until you're comfortable. Most tools let you control intrusiveness and specificity. Don't stick with defaults that annoy you.

Give honest feedback early and often. Your frustrations and requests genuinely help guide teams to build better, more developer-friendly tools.

Take this with you

AI coding tools have enormous potential, but only if they adapt to developers. Your skepticism, high standards, and openness help us (and the entire software industry) make meaningful progress. We're committed to creating tools that let you do your best work, in your own flow, right where you are.

Together, let's shape a future where AI enables, but never overshadows, the craft of great software development.

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Tags

AI coding tools, generative AI, GitHub Copilot

Written by

Cassidy is senior director for developer advocacy here at GitHub. She enjoys building software, advising startups, and teaching developers how to build better. She has a weekly newsletter at cassidoo.co/newsletter where you can get her updates, practice coding problems, and a joke in your inbox!

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