Switching Perspectives in the Era of Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Software Development
Abstract
The development of generative AI has changed the way software is developed by enabling code and system components to be generated through natural language instructions. Approaches such as AI-assisted software development and vibe coding have the potential to reduce the effort required to produce software, particularly for routine programming tasks and prototype development. However, the ease of producing code does not necessarily reduce the need for human judgment; on the contrary, as code becomes easier to produce, individuals involved in software development need to evaluate the results from multiple perspectives to ensure that the functionality, user experience, structure, security, and behavior of the system are considered holistically. This study proposes Perspective Switching as a conceptual lens for understanding how individuals attend to different aspects of a software system and explores its initial empirical manifestation through measures of perspective coverage and priority. A quantitative exploratory study was conducted using a short questionnaire containing Likert-scale items, behavioral checklists, and preference questions, distributed to 29 respondents who had experience developing, testing, using, or evaluating software systems. Findings show that respondents consistently considered more than one perspective, with an average coverage of 3.7 of the 6 analytical domains (functional, user, robustness/unexpected-use, system, maintainability, security/misuse) per respondent. The robustness/unexpected-use and system perspectives were considered most frequently, while the security/misuse and maintainability perspectives were considered least frequently. This study provides initial evidence of the existence and variation of Perspective Switching and discusses its importance in the context of AI-assisted software development, where the human role shifts from code production to critical evaluation and validation.