AI-Assisted Development: A Rapidly Maturing Technology with Increasing Developer Involvement

According to the recent 2023 Developer Nation survey by SlashData, 63% of developers are working on or learning about AI-assisted development, making it the top emerging technology on their radar. This remarkable engagement surpasses interest in other technologies such as generative AI, robotics, quantum computing, self-driving cars, non-cryptocurrency blockchain applications, cryptocurrency, 5G, the metaverse, and more. The survey presents findings from over 25,000 software developers hailing from more than 160 countries.

Although the overall engagement in AI-assisted development has dropped by 4% since the last survey, the intensity of involvement among developers has grown. The decrease in overall engagement, coupled with a shift towards more active pursuits within the subject, indicates that AI-assisted development is maturing rapidly. The technology is moving from being a trending conversation topic to a valuable tool for a multitude of developers.

The salaries of software developers were also evaluated in the report. With an average annual compensation of over $100k and a median of $75k, North America leads the pack as the highest-paying region. Following behind are Oceania ($89k in average compensation), Western Europe and Israel ($62k), and all other regions with average earnings below $48k.

When it comes to job satisfaction, 51% of developers globally believe they receive fair compensation, while 39% view themselves as undercompensated and only 11% feel they earn more than what their role warrants. The report displays an interesting distinction in salary satisfaction between genders: more men (16%) feel underpaid compared to women (11%) and non-binary developers (14%). Conversely, 7% of women think they're overpaid, in contrast to just 4% of men and 1% of non-binary developers.

The survey reveals that developers' perceptions of underpayment increase with experience. For every year of experience, there is a 7% rise in the likelihood that a developer will consider themselves undercompensated.

Furthermore, the report delves into the role of women in software development. It acknowledges that women have consistently played a pivotal—but often overlooked—role in the field throughout its history. The proportion of female respondents in the survey has increased by 3% since 2021, with the largest percentage (22%) in the 25 to 34 age group, signifying a positive trend in a more gender-balanced workforce.

It should be noted that certain sectors exhibit higher representation of women than others. For instance, virtual reality (33%), augmented reality (28%), and video games (28%) boast a larger percentage of female developers, while backend services (13%), web apps and SaaS (16%), and industrial IoT (20%) lag behind. In leadership positions, the report reveals that 14% of men hold technical team lead roles compared to only 8% of women.

No-code platforms such as AppMaster offer opportunities to mitigate these disparities by enabling a wider range of individuals, regardless of their technical backgrounds, to participate in software development. The AppMaster platform provides users with a powerful, comprehensive solution to create backend, web, and mobile applications using a visual approach, which could contribute to closing the gender gap within the industry.