Towards an Appropriate Level of Reliance on AI: A Preliminary Reliance-Control Framework for AI in Software Engineering - Supplementary Information Package

QUESTIONS (Round 1) TIME First of all, let us discuss your experience using LLMs… 1) In the pre-interview question, you mentioned using LLMs in general for <X months/years>. Please can you tell me briefly which LLMs have you been using, and for what? ○ What has been your experience using <name LLMs they identify>? Ex¹.: OpenAI ChatGPT; GitHub Copilot; Amazon Codewhisper; Google Gemini Ex².: seek relevant information; write email; summarise information Ex3: my friends use, so I decide to try; my company decide to use, so I was push to use; I thought that people who use LLMs are in the technological edge (up to date) comparing others who doesn't use 3 mins 2) You also mentioned using LLMs for software development tasks. Can you expand on this? (prompts: which LLMs? for what taks?) ○ What has been your experience using <name LLMs they identify>? Ex1.: seeking information on programming-related questions, clarifying confusing code, refactoring code to adopt design pattern;Generate boilerplate code, explain code, debugging, write documentation, improve code performance, refactoring code to adopt design pattern 3 mins 3) Can you list development tasks that you felt more comfortable relying on LLMs than in the senior developers in your team? What made you more comfortable? Ex.: avoid bother colleagues; worry about being judged by 'dumb' questions 3 mins 4) Think of a time you were using <LLM name> for one of these development related tasks you mentioned and end up in an unexpected outcome. [give them time to think] ○ Can you share the experience? [prompts: What was the task you were trying to do? How were you using the LLM? What happened that surprised you?] ○ Why was it unexpected? Ex.: The response was unrelated to my question/prompt 3 mins Now, I will ask you questions to get your perspective based on your experience as a software developer 5) Based on your experiences so far, what do you find are some of the advantages of using LLMs for software development tasks? Share some examples. [prompts: name which LLM; which task; what were they trying to do; what was the limitation; why was it a advantage, e.g., compared to what] Ex.: friendly and personalised user experience - human-like interaction; Improvement on productivity/boost productivity by looking through multiple websites - similar to Googling without need to filter. LLM doing pair programming (AI pair programming); 3 mins 6) What limitations have you come across? Please share examples. [prompts: name which LLM; which task; what were they trying to do; what was the limitation; why was it a limitation?] Ex.: user experience issues; integration with current development softwares; lack of knowledge of internal APIs 3 mins 7) What do you find challenging about using LLMs for software development tasks? Share some examples. [prompts: name which LLM; which task; what were they trying to do; what was the limitation; why was it a challenge?] ○ Was there a time you felt concerned or less confident about using LLM-based tools in your software projects? If so, could you describe these situations? Ex¹.: Get distracted or biassed by wrong and poor quality suggestions Ex²: authorship of the code generated with LLM support; over-reliance on the LLMs, lack of validation or accuracy, privacy issues, or ethical issues like gender or discrimination-biassed responses, decline in code understanding; 3 mins 8) OPTIONAL: Based on the number of prompts per day <mention number> mentioned in the pre-interview questionnaire, do you feel that it impacts on your skills development? If so, how? Ex.: difficulty in remembering the commands because I've been relying on ChatGPT 3 mins 9) OPTIONAL: It seems there is/is no policy at your organisation regarding the use of LLMs for software development tasks. Can you share more about this [Prompts: when was it introduced? By who? Do you know how it was developed/by who?] ○ What do you think prompted them to introduce a policy? ○ Has it affected you or your team? If so, has it been a help or a hindrance? How? Ex.: be careful about putting property code into the prompt - data leaking; don’t use LLMs in the development of new features - only tests or debugging 3 mins 10) These are your responses to one of the questions in the pre-interview questionnaire [Show - AI attitude responses (don’t have to name it) - fear/trust/destroy/benefit/job losses]. [Pick strongest responses] Can you tell me more about X. ○ Why do you think this way? ○ What role do you see LLMs playing in software development in the near future? 3 mins 11) OPTIONAL: Based on your experience, how can LLMs influence the developers’ career trajectory: from education and training period to passing through seniority levels (e.g., juniors, seniors)? ○ And in job market competitiveness? 3 mins 12) If you could share some practical tips with other software professionals about using LLMs in development related tasks, what would you share? 3 mins 13) If you could share some recommendations with team leaders, managers, or companies as a whole about better supporting developers, what would you share? Ex.: establish guidelines for usage of LLMs; upscaling/reskilling; Provide up-to-date LLM-based tools (e.g., ChatGPT 4) mitigates problems in old versions (e.g., ChatGPT 3.5) 3 mins To conclude, 14) Is there anything else you would like to share about this topic or our study in general? 1 min TOTAL (ROUND 1) - With Optional questions 40 mins QUESTIONS (Round 2) TIME First of all, let us discuss your experience using LLMs… [NO CHANGES] 1) In the pre-interview question, you mentioned using LLMs in general for <X months/years>. Please can you tell me briefly which LLMs have you been using, and for what? ○ What has been your experience using <name LLMs they identify>? Ex¹.: OpenAI ChatGPT; GitHub Copilot; Amazon Codewhisper; Google Gemini Ex².: seek relevant information; write email; summarise information Ex3: my friends use, so I decide to try; my company decide to use, so I was push to use; I thought that people who use LLMs are in the technological edge (up to date) comparing others who doesn't use 3 mins [NO CHANGES] 2) You also mentioned using LLMs for software development tasks. Can you expand on this? (prompts: which LLMs? for what taks?) ○ What has been your experience using <name LLMs they identify>? Ex1.: seeking information on programming-related questions, clarifying confusing code, refactoring code to adopt design pattern;Generate boilerplate code, explain code, debugging, write documentation, improve code performance, refactoring code to adopt design pattern 3 mins [NO CHANGES] 3) Can you list development tasks that you felt more comfortable relying on LLMs than on the senior developers in your team? What made you more comfortable? Ex.: avoid bother colleagues; worry about being judged by 'dumb' questions [QUESTION ADAPTATION FOR SENIOR DEVS] 3) Can you list development tasks that you felt more comfortable relying on LLMs than on colleagues in your team? What made you more comfortable? Ex.: avoid bother colleagues; worry about being judged by 'dumb' questions 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 10] 4) These are your responses to one of the questions in the pre-interview questionnaire. [Show AI attitude response: fear/trust/destroy/benefit/job losses] [Pick extreme responses: Strongly disagree (1/5) or Strongly agree (5/5)] Can you tell me more about X. ○ Why do you think this way? ○ What role do you see LLMs playing in software development in the near future? [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 4] 5) Think of a time you were using <LLM name> for one of these development related tasks you mentioned and you were surprised. [give them time to think] ○ Can you share the experience? [prompts: What was the task you were trying to do? How were you using the LLM? What happened that surprised you?] ○ Why was it unexpected? Ex.: The response was unrelated to my question/prompt 3 mins Now, I will ask you questions to get your perspective based on your experience as a software developer [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 5] 6) Based on your experiences so far, what do you find are some of the advantages of using LLMs for software development tasks? Share some examples. [prompts: name which LLM; which task; what were they trying to do; what was the limitation; why was it a advantage, e.g., compared to what] Ex.: friendly and personalised user experience - human-like interaction; Improvement on productivity/boost productivity by looking through multiple websites - similar to Googling without need to filter. LLM doing pair programming (AI pair programming); 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 6] 7) What do you find challenging about using LLMs for software development tasks? Share some examples. [prompts: name which LLM; which task; what were they trying to do; what was the limitation; why was it a challenge?] ○ Was there a time you felt concerned or less confident about using LLM-based tools in your software projects? If so, could you describe these situations? Ex¹.: Get distracted or biassed by wrong and poor quality suggestions Ex²: authorship of the code generated with LLM support; over-reliance on the LLMs, lack of validation or accuracy, privacy issues, or ethical issues like gender or discrimination-biassed responses, decline in code understanding; 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 7] 8) Optional: What limitations have you come across? Please share examples. [prompts: name which LLM; which task; what were they trying to do; what was the limitation; why was it a limitation?] Ex.: user experience issues; integration with current development softwares; lack of knowledge of internal APIs 3 mins [NEW QUESTION] 9) OPTIONAL: What are the risks/dangers of using GenAI tools? Share some examples. Ex.: difficulty in remembering the commands because I've been relying on ChatGPT 3 mins [NEW QUESTION - FOR SENIORS] 9.5) Did you observe any difference in your colleague's behaviour after they also adopted LLMs? And in junior developers’ behaviour? Ex.: Nowadays, junior developers seek less help than before. [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 13] 10) If you could get your company, manager, or team leader to do something to better support you as a developer regarding LLM adoption, what would that be? Ex.: establish guidelines for usage of LLMs; upscaling/reskilling; Provide up-to-date LLM-based tools (e.g., ChatGPT 4) mitigates problems in old versions (e.g., ChatGPT 3.5) 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 12] 11) If you could share some practical tips with other junior software professionals about using LLMs in development related tasks, what would you share? 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 11] 12) OPTIONAL: Based on your experience, how can LLMs influence the developers’ career trajectory: from education and training period to passing through seniority levels (e.g., juniors, seniors)? ● And in job market competitiveness? 3 mins [NEW QUESTION ✨ ] 13) OPTIONAL: Based on your experience of using LLMs in software development, how do you think LLMs may influence your career as a software developer in the near future? (what would be near future for you?) And in the long term? (What is long-term for you?) 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 9] 14) OPTIONAL: According to your response to PIQ, there is/is no policy at your organisation regarding the use of LLMs for software development tasks. Can you share more about this [Prompts: when was it introduced? By who? Do you know how it was developed/by who?] ○ What do you think prompted them to introduce a policy? ○ Has it affected you or your team? If so, has it been a help or a hindrance? How? ○ Do you think policies are useful or useless? Why? (give examples) Ex.: be careful about putting property code into the prompt - data leaking; don’t use LLMs in the development of new features - only tests or debugging 3 mins To conclude, [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 14] 15) Is there anything else you would like to share about this topic or our study in general? 1 min TOTAL (ROUND 2) - With Optional questions 43 min QUESTIONS (Round 3) TIME Let us discuss your experience using LLMs… [ORIGINAL NUMBER:2] 1) You also mentioned using LLMs for software development tasks. Can you expand on this? (prompts: which LLMs? for what taks?) a) What has been your experience using <name LLMs they identify>? Ex1.: seeking information on programming-related questions, clarifying confusing code, refactoring code to adopt design pattern;Generate boilerplate code, explain code, debugging, write documentation, improve code performance, refactoring code to adopt design pattern 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER:3] 2) Can you list development tasks that you felt more comfortable relying on LLMs than in the senior developers in your team? What made you more comfortable? Ex.: avoid bother colleagues; worry about being judged by 'dumb' questions 3 mins [NEW QUESTION] 3) Are there any tasks you feel comfortable fully delegating to LLMs? Why? Ex.: Boilerplate code generation, document generation 3 mins [NEW QUESTION] 4) And when it comes to your relationship with your team, how do you view that LLMs influence you in your integration with those other colleagues? 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER:9] 5) What are the risks/dangers of using GenAI tools? 3 mins [NEW QUESTION] 6) How do LLMs impact developers’ career reputation? 3 mins [NEW QUESTION] 7) When it comes to the organisational level, how do you view the benefits of LLMs in terms of cost saving? 3 mins [NEW QUESTION] 8) How do you view the cost of using LLMs? 3 mins [NEW QUESTION] 9) Do you notice any change in your personality due to LLMs? Ex.: Became impatient or lazy 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER:11] 10) What would be your recommendations to the new generation of software developers regarding LLMs? 3 mins [ORIGINAL NUMBER:13] 11) In your experience, how do you view that LLMs influenced your career in the near future and in the long term? 3 min 12) How do LLMs impact society? Job market? 3 mins To conclude, [ORIGINAL NUMBER: 15] 15) Is there anything else you would like to share about this topic or our study in general? 1 min TOTAL (ROUND 2) - With Optional questions 37 min