AI coding agents generate more code, but not more software

Ars Technica · 5 days ago · 13 ● 5 sources

AI coding assistants and agents generated more functional code, but a Harvard study found human code review became a major bottleneck, limiting downstream gains. The analysis used 300 million work events across over 700,000 employees at more than 700 software firms from 2021 through March of 2026. As a result, firms saw little evidence of increased software output or reduced employment, with longer code reviews, more pull-request revisions, and more reviewer comments.