---
title: "Dynamics of Sentiment and Attitudes Toward AI Among Developers"
description: "JetBrains’ Developer Ecosystem and AI Pulse surveys spanning 2024 to 2026 reveal rapidly changing developer sentiment and attitudes toward AI. Delegation readiness surged: writing application logic code jumped from 18% to 50%, test writing from 50% to 75%, and refactoring from 38% to 60% over one year. However, code review and debugging remain tasks that most developers are not yet ready to fully delegate, though readiness is climbing — code review from 33% to 43% and debugging reluctance dropping from 76% to 54%. The vast majority (79%) now expect employers to require AI tool proficiency, up from 59% in 2024. Concerns about AI reducing developer demand rose to 37% from 28%, and 25% believe AI will fully replace human developers, with 37% of heavy AI agent users sharing that view."
---

# Dynamics of Sentiment and Attitudes Toward AI Among Developers

[Jetbrains](https://yomu.fyi/company/jetbrains) · Mikhail Bogdanov · Oct 19, 2026

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

JetBrains’ Developer Ecosystem and AI Pulse surveys spanning 2024 to 2026 reveal rapidly changing developer sentiment and attitudes toward AI. Delegation readiness surged: writing application logic code jumped from 18% to 50%, test writing from 50% to 75%, and refactoring from 38% to 60% over one year. However, code review and debugging remain tasks that most developers are not yet ready to fully delegate, though readiness is climbing — code review from 33% to 43% and debugging reluctance dropping from 76% to 54%. The vast majority (79%) now expect employers to require AI tool proficiency, up from 59% in 2024. Concerns about AI reducing developer demand rose to 37% from 28%, and 25% believe AI will fully replace human developers, with 37% of heavy AI agent users sharing that view.

## Context

JetBrains’ Developer Ecosystem and AI Pulse surveys measure developer sentiment and attitudes toward AI from 2024 to 2026.

## Takeaways

- From 2025 to 2026, readiness to delegate writing application logic code to AI tripled from 18% to 50%, while test writing delegation readiness rose from 50% to 75%.
- Code review and debugging remain the tasks developers are least willing to fully delegate to AI, though readiness increased (code review from 33% to 43%; debugging reluctance dropped from 76% to 54%).
- The proportion of developers who believe AI will fully replace human developers rose sharply from 8% in 2024 to 25% in 2026, with heavy AI agent users more likely to agree (37%).

## FAQ

### Which development tasks are developers most reluctant to delegate to AI?

Code review and debugging are the tasks developers are least ready to fully delegate to AI. Only 43% are ready to delegate code review, and 46% are ready for debugging, though both percentages have increased from the previous year.

### How has developer sentiment about AI replacing jobs changed?

Concerns about AI reducing demand for developers rose from 28% in 2024 to 37% in 2026. The belief that AI will fully replace human developers jumped from 8% in 2024 to 25% in 2026, especially among heavy AI agent users (37%).

### Do developers expect employers to require AI tool proficiency?

Yes, 79% of developers believe employers will expect proficiency with AI development tools, up from 59% in June–July 2024. This indicates growing pressure to adopt AI skills.

**Tags:** [AI](https://yomu.fyi/topic/ai), [Research](https://yomu.fyi/topic/research), [Trends](https://yomu.fyi/topic/trends)

- Source: [Jetbrains](https://blog.jetbrains.com/research/2026/10/dynamics-of-sentiment-and-attitudes-toward-ai-among-developers)
- Source URL: https://blog.jetbrains.com/research/2026/10/dynamics-of-sentiment-and-attitudes-toward-ai-among-developers
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-10-19T15:00:13.460Z

[Read original post](https://blog.jetbrains.com/research/2026/10/dynamics-of-sentiment-and-attitudes-toward-ai-among-developers)