---
title: Joel Becker
type: entity
tags: [researcher, ai-evaluation, metr, rct]
affiliation: Model Evaluation & Threat Research (METR)
sources: ["[[sources/2025-becker-metr-ai-developer-productivity]]"]
created: 2026-04-20
updated: 2026-04-20
---

# Joel Becker

Researcher at **METR (Model Evaluation & Threat Research)**. Co-lead author (with [[entities/beth-barnes]] and Nate Rush, David Rein) of the 2025 METR field RCT measuring the real-world productivity impact of early-2025 AI tools on experienced open-source developers — a study that found a 19% slowdown, contradicting developer and expert forecasts of 24–39% speedup.

## Contributions in this wiki
- [[sources/2025-becker-metr-ai-developer-productivity]] — *Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity*.

## Related
Co-author: [[entities/beth-barnes]]. Related hub: [[concepts/ai-agent-benchmarks]].