  We analyse the individual productivity effects of Italy's ban on ChatGPT, a
generative pretrained transformer chatbot. We compile data on the daily coding
output quantity and quality of over 36,000 GitHub users in Italy and other
European countries and combine these data with the sudden announcement of the
ban in a difference-in-differences framework. Among the affected users in
Italy, we find a short-term increase in output quantity and quality for less
experienced users and a decrease in productivity on more routine tasks for
experienced users.
