Knowing how to use AI for software development could be the most valuable asset that you bring to a workplace. A new survey from GitHub found that over 97% of developers use AI coding tools at work and in their personal lives.
The survey defined AI coding tools as “any developer tools that use generative AI and LLMs to provide engineering assistance throughout the software development cycle.” That includes everything from ChatGPT and Google Gemini to developer-specific tools like OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, and Codeium.
There are lots of clever ways that devs use AI to be more resourceful and fulfilled in their work. AI isn’t just a time-saving shortcut — survey participants also said that AI coding tools significantly enhance code quality, development efficiency, and streamline workflows in software development. For example, AI coding tools expedite tedious developer tasks, like learning a new programming language for a project or understanding an existing codebase.
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The perception of AI tools is also shifting, with most workplaces now approving their use in software development, the survey found. In fact, the strong majority of survey respondents said that their organizations actively encourage employees to adopt AI coding tools. Who knows? If you can demonstrate to your team leader how AI can improve your processes, you could encourage the rest of your team to upskill and work smarter.
Job seekers not yet on a technical team should start getting comfortable with AI now. Being proficient in AI coding tools that match job requirements can boost your employability, the survey found. Read more about the AI skills that give job seekers a competitive edge and how to list these new skills on your resume.
How to learn AI coding tools
The best way to learn AI coding tools is to start using them. We have interactive courses and tutorials that will give you hands-on experience using AI in software development scenarios.
Get started with AI coding tools by learning GitHub Copilot, a popular language agnostic AI coding assistant that you can use in your IDE. The course Intro to GitHub Copilot will teach you how to set up and use its key features like autocomplete and algorithm implementations.
We also have free courses that walk you through specific AI use cases in coding, like Optimizing Code with Generative AI Case Study, Debug Python Code with Generative AI Case Study, and Unit Testing with Generative AI Case Study.
And if you want to take a closer look at how to utilize OpenAI’s API within your code to customize your AI experience, try the free course Learn the OpenAI API Playground. There’s also language-specific courses like OpenAI API Coding with JavaScript and OpenAI API Coding with Python.
No matter which course you choose, when you learn with Codecademy, you also get valuable experience using AI as you code. Our learning environment is stacked with AI learning tools that help you get the most out of a course or path. Interacting with the AI Learning Assistant helps you hone your prompt writing, testing, and refining skills all without needing to leave our platform. You can also practice coding faster with autocomplete, which is an industry-standard feature of most IDEs and code editors. These tools are designed to make it easier for you to learn, but they have the bonus of preparing you to code in the real-world.