Ask HN: Academic study on AI's impact on software development – want to join?
23 points
2 hours ago
| 4 comments
| HN
Would you like to participate in a study on AI’s impact on software development? We are researchers at New York University and City, University of London conducting an interview study on how new AI tools are changing the work of software developers. We are looking to speak with developers of all seniority levels, including those in leadership roles, who can share their experiences and perspectives on using (or choosing not to use) AI in their day-to-day work.

Interviews will last 45 to 60 minutes and take place via Zoom. Participants will be asked about their workflow, AI tool usage, and how their role has evolved over time. All responses will be kept confidential and used for academic research purposes only. Research participants need to be based in the U.S.

If interested, please fill out this brief form so that we can contact you: https://nyu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cHkvoczxgtaLLo2

Thank you!

idrissbellil
28 minutes ago
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Will you in exchange publish the results/dataset for free?
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roguechimpanzee
2 hours ago
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do I get a starbucks giftcard or anything?
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research2026
1 hour ago
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Thanks for asking! We're unable to offer compensation, but the insights you share will directly contribute to social scientific knowledge about AI’s impact on professional work and careers. Software engineering is at the forefront of this change and objective, academic research on the topic is still scarce. So we really appreciate everyone who volunteers their time to share their experiences and views on the topic.
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kibibu
26 minutes ago
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I'm surprised your human research ethics board doesn't require you to indicate the benefit to participants

Did you get ethics approval for this? I can't see any reference to it on the survey

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research2026
10 minutes ago
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I understand your concern, and thanks for asking for this clarification.

We have IRB ethics approval from NYU for the study. All the detailed information you are looking for is contained in the 'Research Informed Consent Form' that will be emailed to eligible research participants. After reviewing the informed consent form, you can choose to proceed or not with scheduling an interview. And of course, you can at any time withdraw your participation.

The link in the post is just a simple contact form giving us permission to contact potential participants and assess their eligibility (i.e. whether they are based in the US, whether they are software devs etc). And, if we hopefully get more responses than we need, the brief information contained in this form will help us sample participants based on company size or professional experience level.

You will see in the 'Informed Consent Form' that there are no direct benefits to participation. The study will contribute to social scientific knowledge about technology’s impact on professional work and careers. I hope this helps!

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saadn92
2 hours ago
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this is the right question to ask
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0xchamin
1 hour ago
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done. good luck!
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research2026
1 hour ago
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Appreciate it, thank you
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grossiweb
2 hours ago
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Thank you just completed the form
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research2026
1 hour ago
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Thank you!
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