I suppose it depends on what performance bracket you are targeting. Scripting and interpreted languages, JIT next and VM after that (i.e. JVM, CLR), native code

I suppose it depends on what performance bracket you are targeting. Scripting and interpreted languages, JIT next and VM after that (i.e. JVM, CLR), native code after that and optimised low-level code after that would all have very different reactions to 'good CPU' vs. 'bad CPU'. A 'slow' process (±10s) taking 1 second longer won't seem that much slower, but a fast process (±100ms) taking ten times as long does definitely become problematic. As for AI, it's mostly irrelevant what your local machines does, unless you are an end-user (i.e. you are running a model from a vendor on a local accelerator for local processing instead of remote processing). Development happens on remote farms and on-line usage also happens on remote farms.