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Documents authored by Smite, Darja

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Emerging Results, Vision & Reflection Track Paper
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.69
Beyond Individual Prompting Efficiency: A Socio-Technical Perspective on Computational Efficiency in AI-Assisted Software Engineering

Authors: Darja Smite, Viggo Tellefsen Wivestad, Gabrielle O'Brien, Italo Santos, Giuseppe Destefanis, Maria Teresa Baldassarre, Mircea Lungu, Elda Paja, and Ronnie de Souza Santos

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 394, 20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026)

Abstract
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistants and agents become increasingly integrated into software engineering work, concerns about the economic and environmental costs of AI usage continue to grow. Current discussions of computational efficiency focus primarily on model architectures, hardware optimization, and inference cost reduction. In this vision paper, we argue that computational efficiency should also be understood as a socio-technical phenomenon shaped by patterns of human-AI interaction within organizational settings. Motivated by ongoing dialogues with industry partners and informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Cognitive Theory, we introduce the concept of computational behavior to describe patterns of AI-assisted work that influence how computational resources are consumed, reused, coordinated, and amplified across software engineering activities. Building on this perspective, we propose a multilevel conceptual framework linking individual computational behaviors to emergent collective computational outcomes. We argue that individually rational AI usage behaviors may accumulate into either computational waste or collective computational efficiency depending on how interactions are shared, reused, and aligned across teams and workflows. While fragmented AI use may generate duplicated prompting, redundant generation, and coordination overhead, coordinated collective practices, such as reusable prompts, shared contextualization, and workflow integration may improve collective computational efficiency. We conclude by outlining a research agenda for studying computational coordination, including empirical and organizational AI governance in AI-assisted software engineering.
Cite as

Darja Smite, Viggo Tellefsen Wivestad, Gabrielle O'Brien, Italo Santos, Giuseppe Destefanis, Maria Teresa Baldassarre, Mircea Lungu, Elda Paja, and Ronnie de Souza Santos. Beyond Individual Prompting Efficiency: A Socio-Technical Perspective on Computational Efficiency in AI-Assisted Software Engineering. In 20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 394, pp. 69:1-69:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{smite_et_al:LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.69,
  author =	{Smite, Darja and Wivestad, Viggo Tellefsen and O'Brien, Gabrielle and Santos, Italo and Destefanis, Giuseppe and Baldassarre, Maria Teresa and Lungu, Mircea and Paja, Elda and de Souza Santos, Ronnie},
  title =	{{Beyond Individual Prompting Efficiency: A Socio-Technical Perspective on Computational Efficiency in AI-Assisted Software Engineering}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026)},
  pages =	{69:1--69:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-450-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{394},
  editor =	{Feldt, Robert and Paasivaara, Maria and Mendez, Daniel and Wagner, Stefan and Bar\'{o}n, Marvin Mu\~{n}oz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.69},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-280377},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.69},
  annote =	{Keywords: AI-assisted software engineering, Computational waste, Team practices, Mental models, Empirical software engineering, Vision, Research agenda}
}

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