You've added an implicit assumption that this person spends more time programming now than they used to, rather than continuing to commit time at the same rate but now leading to projects being completed when they previously got bogged down and abandoned.

There are any number of things you could add to get you to any conclusion. Better to discuss what is there.

I've had the same experience of being able to finish tons of old abandoned projects with AI assistance, and I am not spending any more time than usual working on programming or design projects. It's just that the most boring things that would have taken weeks to figure out and do (instead, let me switch to the other project I have that is not like that, yet) have been reduced to hours. The parts that were tough in a creative fun way are still tough, and AI barely helps with them because it is extremely stupid, but those are the funnest, most substantive parts.