研究生成式AI助编程对视障开发者的影响,发现既有利也有新障碍。
The Impact of Generative AI Coding Assistants on Developers Who Are Visually Impaired
- 基于活动理论分析视障开发者使用AI编程助手的互动行为。
- 助手常因建议过多、难切换上下文而加剧使用困难。
- 强调需以用户为中心设计,提升无障碍体验的包容性。
生成式AI在软件开发中的快速应用已深刻影响行业,但其对视障开发者的具体影响仍缺乏研究。本研究采用活动理论框架,通过让视障开发者在实际编程任务中使用生成式AI编程助手,探索其交互方式。结果发现,尽管参与者普遍认为助手有显著帮助,但也揭示了新的挑战:助手频繁提供大量建议,导致视障开发者希望设置“AI超时”;同时,助手生成内容与用户代码间的上下文切换更加困难。尽管存在这些障碍,参与者仍对AI助手改善视障者编程体验抱有乐观预期。研究呼吁将以活动为中心的设计原则融入生成式AI工具,使其更贴合用户行为,满足特定无障碍需求,从而推动软件开发领域的整体可访问性提升。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
The rapid adoption of generative AI in software development has impacted the industry, yet its effects on developers with visual impairments remain largely unexplored. To address this gap, we used an Activity Theory framework to examine how developers with visual impairments interact with AI coding assistants. For this purpose, we conducted a study where developers who are visually impaired completed a series of programming tasks using a generative AI coding assistant. We uncovered that, while participants found the AI assistant beneficial and reported significant advantages, they also highlighted accessibility challenges. Specifically, the AI coding assistant often exacerbated existing accessibility barriers and introduced new challenges. For example, it overwhelmed users with an excessive number of suggestions, leading developers who are visually impaired to express a desire for ``AI timeouts.'' Additionally, the generative AI coding assistant made it more difficult for developers to switch contexts between the AI-generated content and their own code. Despite these challenges, participants were optimistic about the potential of AI coding assistants to transform the coding experience for developers with visual impairments. Our findings emphasize the need to apply activity-centered design principles to generative AI assistants, ensuring they better align with user behaviors and address specific accessibility needs. This approach can enable the assistants to provide more intuitive, inclusive, and effective experiences, while also contributing to the broader goal of enhancing accessibility in software development.
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