Man-hours Prediction Model for Estimating the Development Cost of AI-Based Software

The artificial intelligence software market is expected to grow sixfold from 2020 to 2025. However, the software development process is not standardized and there is no standard for calculating the cost. Accordingly, each AI software development company calculates the input man-hours according to their respective development procedures and presents this as the basis for the development cost. In this study, the development stage of “artificial intelligence-based software” that learns with a large amount of data and derives and applies an algorithm was defined, and the required labor was collected by conducting a survey on the number of man-hours required for each development stage targeting developers. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were performed between the collected man-hours for each development stage, and a model for predicting the man-hours for each development stage was derived. As a result of testing the model, it showed an accuracy of 92% compared to the collected airborne effort. The man-hour prediction model proposed in this study is expected to be a tool that can be used simply for estimating man-hours and costs.