A Large-Scale Comprehensive Measurement of AI-Generated Code in Real-World Repositories A Large-Scale Comprehensive Measurement of AI-Generated Code in Real-World Repositories
Tianhao Mao, Dongfang Zhao, Haixu Tang, Xiaofeng Wang, Hang Zhang
Abstract
Large language models (LLMs) are rapidly transforming software engineering by enabling developers to generate code ranging from small snippets to entire projects. As AI-generated code becomes increasingly integrated into real-world systems, understanding its characteristics and impact is critical. However, prior work primarily focuses on small-scale, controlled evaluations and lacks comprehensive analysis in real-world settings. In this paper, we present a large-scale empirical study of AI-generated code in real-world repositories. We analyze both code-level metrics (\eg complexity, structure, and defect-related indicators) and commit-level characteristics (\eg commit size, frequency, and post-commit stability). To enable this study, we develop heuristic filter with LLM classification to identify AI-generated code and construct a large dataset. Our results provide new insights into how AI-generated code differs from human-written code and how AI assistance influences development practices. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the practical implications of AI-assisted programming.