PART 3 - THE THIRD AXIS CHAPTER 15: DEPLOY NOW, PRAY LATER BenchMaxxing

"METR’s later experiment suggested that newer AI tools may improve developer productivity, although selection effects prevented a reliable updated estimate."

METR's February 2026 follow-up reports that developers increasingly avoided participating when required to work without AI. The researchers consequently judged their newer data unreliable for estimating the size of contemporary productivity gains.

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