UNITED STATES: GitHub has unveiled its latest AI-powered tool, Copilot X, developed in partnership with OpenAI and leveraging their most advanced language model yet, GPT-4.
Copilot X integrates natively with Visual Studio and VS Code, introducing a chat interface to the editor and adding new features beyond auto-completing code.
One of the most exciting things about Copilot X is that it recognises what code a developer has typed and error messages shown by the compiler and can provide in-depth analysis and explanations of what the code blocks intend to do.
Copilot X can even generate unit tests and propose fixes for bugs. GitHub says that Copilot X has the potential to reshape the process of software development.
But chatting isn’t the only way developers can interact with the chatbot. Copilot X will also introduce voice-to-code AI technology, allowing developers to give natural language prompts verbally.
The feature opens up new possibilities for hands-free coding, potentially leading to a future where coders only need to interact with their PCs to remove the screensaver.
Copilot X will also be used for pull requests on GitHub, adding AI-powered tags to pull request descriptions.
It simplifies the process of browsing documentation with a chat interface where developers can ask questions about the languages, frameworks, and technologies they’re using.
Copilot X builds on the success of GitHub’s initial Copilot release in 2021, which leveraged OpenAI’s Codex AI model, a GPT-3 derivative, to autocomplete code and save developers time.
Less than two years later, Copilot is already writing 46% of code and helping developers code up to 55% faster, according to GitHub.
GitHub suggests that Copilot X isn’t just a bunch of features that developers can enjoy.
Instead, it’s the company’s “vision for the future of AI-powered software development.”
The potential for GPT-4 and other advanced AI models to transform software development is immense, and GitHub and OpenAI are at the forefront of this exciting technological revolution.
As with any new technology, there are concerns about how AI will impact employment.
The demonstration of GPT-4’s ability to proficiently write computer code in most programming languages has caused some programmers to worry about losing their jobs.
However, whether AI will take over jobs anytime soon is debatable, and there’s no doubt that in its current state, AI has the potential to reshape the process of software development entirely.
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