# You Shall Not Pass! Where and Why Developers Draw The Line on AI Autonomy

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.00533 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.00533/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 1 Jul 2026.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [The Work Behind Delegation: A Framework for Supervising AI Coding Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.24234/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

As AI takes on more software work, the line between human and AI effort is shifting. Where developers draw that line around AI autonomy bears on how we design tools and roles that preserve meaningful work. Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory, work design, and automation research, we conducted a mixed-methods study of 448 professional developers at Microsoft to investigate their accepted levels of AI autonomy across software engineering work. Most developers accepted AI producing work under their oversight, although accepted autonomy varied substantively across tasks and individuals. Acceptance was lowest for identity-defining, human-facing, and design-oriented work, and higher among developers with more AI experience and risk tolerance. Task accountability was associated with lower odds of allowing AI to act on developers' behalf, whereas task identity was associated with lower odds of granting AI decision-making autonomy. Task demands had the opposite effect, increasing willingness to delegate decision-making to AI. Our findings suggest that preferences for AI autonomy reflect how developers cognitively experience their work, highlighting important considerations for designing meaningful work.