AI Generated Code Adds To Technical Debt

March 7, 2025

Technical debt refers to using flawed code that results in more work. It’s okay for projects to be ruled out with some technical debt as long as it is paid back. The problem comes when the code isn’t corrected and it snowballs into a huge problem. LeadDev explores how AI code affects projects: “How AI Generated Code Compounds Technical Debt.” The article highlights that it has never been easier to write code especially with AI, but there’s a large amassment of technical debt. The technical debt is so large that it is comparable to the US’s ballooning debt.

GitClear tracked the an eight-gold increase in code frequency blocks with give or more lines that duplicate adjectives code during 2024. This was ten times higher than the previous two years. GitClear found some more evidence of technical debt:

“That same year, 46% of code changes were new lines, while copy-pasted lines exceeded moved lines. “Moved,” lines is a metric GitClear has devised to track the rearranging of code, an action typically performed to consolidate previous work into reusable modules. “Refactored systems, in general, and moved code in particular, are the signature of code reuse,” says Bill Harding, CEO of Amplenote and GitClear. A year-on-year decline in code movement suggests developers are less likely to reuse previous work, a marked shift from existing industry best practice that would lead to more redundant systems with less consolidation of functions.”

These facts might not seem alarming, especially if one reads Google’s 2024 DORA report that said there was a 25% increase in AI usage to quicken code reviews and documentation. The downside was a 7.2% decrease in delivery and stability. These numbers might be small now but what is happening is like making a copy of a copy of a copy: the integrity is lost.

It’s also like relying entirely on spellcheck to always correct your spelling and grammar. While these are good tools to have, what will you do when you don’t have fundamentals in your toolbox or find yourself in a spontaneous spelling bee?

Whitney Grace, March 7, 2025

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Financial, News, Technology

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.