The share of code written or relying on AI in the US rose from 5% in 2022 to 29% at the end of 2024, underlining huge growth among developers and engineers.
That's according to academic research out of the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) and published in Science. Researchers studied 30 million Python contributions from 160,000 developers on GitHub — ironically by using an AI model to spot whether blocks of code were created using AI tools including ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot.
"The results show extremely rapid diffusion," said Frank Neffke, leader of the Transforming Economies group at CSH, in a statement. "In the US, AI-assisted coding jumped from around 5% in 2022 to nearly 30% in the last quarter of 2024."
The data showed American coders were the most likely to use AI in their work of the regions studied, followed by France at 24% and Germany at 23%.
The continued take-up of AI coding tools is no surprise given half of developers think large language models (LLMs) can code better than most humans — though issues around accuracy continue to hold the idea back.
In the UK, a survey by JetBrains revealed British coders are more cautious than peers globally when it comes to using AI tools — with a quarter saying they're still uncertain about its use in their work.
Playing catchup
Notably, AI-generated coding is taking off in India, with uptake standing at 20%. Neffke said the trend is “catching up fast” across the country.
Russia and China "lagged" at 15% and 12% respectively — but in the year since the data was collected, that's likely changed.
"It's no surprise the U.S. leads – that's where the leading LLMs come from," said Johannes Wachs, a faculty member at CSH and associate professor at Corvinus University of Budapest.
"Users in China and Russia have faced barriers to accessing these models, blocked by their own governments or by the providers themselves, though VPN workarounds exist."
He added: "Recent domestic Chinese breakthroughs like DeepSeek, released after our data ends in early 2025, suggest this gap may close quickly."
Benefits of experience
The study found software programmers with less experience were more likely to use AI, with 37% of their code featuring it in some way, versus 27% for their more skilled colleagues. However, the research suggests that more experienced coders are seeing the most productivity gains — suggesting human skills still matter.
"Beginners hardly benefit at all," said Simone Daniotti, a researcher at CSH and Utrecht University, in a statement.
That also suggests that generative AI may widen existing skills gaps between coders, rather than help less experienced programmers catch up effortlessly.
The study noted that experienced developers are more likely to use AI to help experiment, such as with new libraries or tools.
"This suggests that AI does not only accelerate routine tasks, but also speeds up learning, helping experienced programmers widen their capabilities and more easily venture into new domains of software development," said Wachs.
The gaps in uptake and benefits mean AI adoptions could exacerbate existing problems — something governments and companies should keep in mind.
"For businesses, policymakers, and educational institutes, the key question is not whether AI will be used, but how to make its benefits accessible without reinforcing inequalities," added Wachs.
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