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A 2023 Retool survey found that 51.6% of respondents considered AI overrated—but that does not mean they rejected AI tools. The same reporting says many surveyed software engineers were using ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot while relying less on Stack Overflow. These findings describe respondents’ views and reported habits in 2023, not the attitudes of all tech workers or a current 2026 poll.
What did the Retool survey say about AI?
Futurism’s November 23, 2023, account of Retool’s survey said it covered 1,500 people working in tech, including executives, software engineers, designers, and people in other roles across industries. On whether AI was overrated, underrated, or fairly rated, respondents were reported as follows:
| View of AI | Share of respondents |
|---|---|
| Overrated | 51.6% |
| Underrated | 25.1% |
| Fairly rated | 23.4% |
The figures are the responses to a sentiment question, as reported by Futurism. They show that a majority of this survey’s respondents called AI overrated; they do not establish that AI is objectively overhyped or ineffective.
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Did skeptical respondents still use AI tools?
Yes. The same coverage describes a separate finding about software engineers’ reported Stack Overflow habits: 57.6% said they used Stack Overflow less, and 10.2% said they had stopped using it altogether, as they increasingly turned to ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot. These usage figures address a different question from whether AI was overrated, so they should not be read as a direct comparison or as proof that AI tools caused the change.
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That distinction helps make sense of the apparent tension: a person can think AI is overhyped while still using it for particular tasks. The reported shift in site use also does not, by itself, show that engineers became more productive or explain why their habits changed. Futurism’s report does not establish those outcomes.
Did opinions differ by job role?
According to Futurism, executives viewed AI more favorably, while people in technical roles were more inclined to call it overrated. The accessible article gives no exact percentages by role, so it supports only this broad comparison—not a ranking of job groups or a precise estimate of how strongly each differed.
How representative are these findings?
Retool’s State of AI report page describes a broader pool of 1,500+ developers, builders, and business leaders and promotes a report covering AI adoption, tools, use cases, challenges, and technology stacks. The full report is offered through a form. Futurism describes 1,500 people working in tech and lists broad role categories, but the accessible reporting and landing page do not establish recruitment channel, exact field dates, weighting, response rates, or margin of error.
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Without those details, the results should not be treated as a probability sample or a precise estimate of all tech workers. Retool’s 2024 State of AI follow-up characterizes 2023 respondents as viewing AI as slightly overrated, consistent with the broad gist of the earlier coverage; it is contextual follow-up, not a substitute for the original survey instrument or complete methodology.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can you conclude from the headline?
“Half of tech workers think AI is a bunch of hype” is a shorthand for one finding from Retool’s 2023 survey, as reported by Futurism. More precisely, 51.6% of respondents were reported as saying AI was overrated. The result captures opinion at that time, alongside reported AI-tool use among engineers; it does not establish current sentiment, the views of every tech worker, or AI’s actual value.
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