SANTA CRUZ, CA. March 8, 2016 - Developers fear that their own obsolescence will be spurred by artificial intelligence, according to a new survey of over 550 software developers to be released this week by Evans Data Corp. When asked to identify the most worrisome thing in their careers, the largest plurality, 29.1%, cited "I and my development efforts are replaced by artificial intelligence." This was significantly more worrisome than platform issues, such as their targeted platforms becoming obsolete which was the second most cited worry at 23%, or that the new platform they're targeting doesn't catch on (14%).

The thought of obsolescence due to AI was also more threatening than becoming old without a pension, being stifled at work by bad management, or by seeing their skills and tools become irrelevant. While the developers who worried about AI were found across industries and platforms, one strong correlation was that they were more likely to self-identify with being loners rather than team players.

"Another dimension to this finding is that over three-quarters of the developers thought that robots and artificial intelligence would be a great benefit to mankind, but a little over 60% thought it could be a disaster," said Janel Garvin, CEO of Evans Data. "Overlap between two groups was clear which shows the ambivalence that developers feel about the dawn of intelligent machines. There will be wonderful benefits, but there will also be some cataclysmic changes culturally and economically."

Evans Data's Developer Marketing 2016 survey provides insight into developers" demographics, firmographics and psychographics, and well as focusing on topics that help marketing people to understand and effectively reach out to developers such as, Primary Influencers, Purchasing Authority, Building a Community, Videos and Webinars, Outreach Methods, Trade Shows and conferences, and more. It is conducted globally once a year.

Please contact Evans Data for a complete table of contents.

Evans Data Corporation provides regularly updated IT industry market intelligence based on in-depth surveys of the global developer population. Evans' syndicated research includes surveys focused on developers in a wide variety of subjects.

Copyright 2016 Evans Data Corporation. All other company names, products and services mentioned in this document are the trademarks and property of their respective owners.

###