Engineers' AI Reality Check: Insights from the 'Mind of the Engineer' Survey

The 'Mind of the Engineer' survey from EDN is unusual for one reason: it doesn't bother with hype.

Most AI-in-engineering writing in 2026 is either a vendor benchmark dressed up as journalism or a doom take dressed up as analysis. EDN's survey skips both and just asks engineers what's actually on their minds — whether AI will eliminate their jobs, whether they trust its outputs, whether they're using the tools at all. The questions themselves are the value. They tell you exactly where the uncertainty lives.

For years, the discourse around AI and engineering has been vibes — vendor-supplied speedups, breathless product demos, "10× productivity" claims that age like milk. Engineers don't need more of that. They need to know where the field actually stands.

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