Ask HN: Academic study on AI's impact on software development

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!

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nearting a day ago | parent | next [-]

I see from other comments that you have IRB approval for this study, but you really should include the IRB protocol identified and/or contact information of the PI here, especially if you've created a separate account just to post this recruitment material.

While it is possible to ask questions about the study here (as others have done), there's actually no way for me to know anything about the study approval except to email this thread link to NYU's IRB and have them figure out what protocol it corresponds to. And so far, the response has just been "Yes, we have approval, just trust us and send us your contact info."

Assuming that it's possible for non-researchers to use Qualtrics at NYU, there's really no way for me to determine if this is a real research study or someone whose account has been compromised and is running a data harvesting operation. I also don't even know what department this study is associated with (computer science, business, sociology, etc), which I suspect would influence people's interest in participating.

In any case, I'd recommend providing some more information up front, even if your IRB didn't require it.

	▲	research2026 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Totally valid question. We need to adhere, however, to the permission we received to post our study on a public forum. PI contact information is included in the Informed Consent document along with other information to help potential participants decide if they consent to participate in the study.

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Hasg1 a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

How would this self-selecting study be representative? It will be swarmed by paid AI shills.

The anti-AI people are already weary by having to contradict the $trillion industry, so they might skip this particular battlefield.

	▲	research2026 a day ago \| parent [-]
		HN is only one of our recruitment channels. We are definitely aiming for a balance of perspectives.

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idrissbellil a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Will you in exchange publish the results/dataset for free?

	▲	research2026 a day ago \| parent [-]
		Happy to share the final peer-reviewed publication with research participants.

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roguechimpanzee a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

do I get a starbucks giftcard or anything?

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research2026 a day ago | parent | next [-]

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 a day ago | parent [-]

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

	▲	research2026 a day ago \| parent [-]
		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 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

this is the right question to ask

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grossiweb a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Thank you just completed the form

	▲	research2026 a day ago \| parent [-]
		Thank you!

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0xchamin a day ago | parent | prev [-]

done. good luck!

	▲	research2026 a day ago \| parent [-]
		Appreciate it, thank you