Microsoft-owned platform GitHub has unveiled the next big step in AI-powered software development with the launch of Copilot X. Known as one of the best platforms for using Generative AI for code completion, GitHub is advancing its collaboration with OpenAI. They are implementing the new GPT-4 model and expanding the tool’s capabilities to more phases of the coding process. The new software connects with VS Studio and VS Code. It also introduces a chat and voice interface to its AI Pair programmer.
Aim of Copilot X
The original Copilot was first made available in 2021 as a simple AI-powered tool. It operated within the developer’s editor window to help programmers auto-complete lines or sections of code, saving them time. It was based on the earlier GPT-3 model and its training data contains natural language and billions of lines of code selected from GitHub repositories and other authorities. Since its launch, it has proven to be a game changer for the company by highly advancing its coding process to the next level. According to the company’s CEO, Thomas Dohmke, the software “is already writing 46% of code and helps developers code up to 55% faster.”
By auto-completing codes and saving huge amounts of time, it acts as an AI pair programmer that maintains developers’ focus and keeps them productive. With Copilot X, the company aims for it to go beyond its function as an AI-powered auto-completion tool. It is developed to move past the editor and completely transform the software into a readily available AI tool throughout the whole development lifecycle.
GitHub Copilot is already helping developers code faster in their IDEs. But what’s next?
Our answer is GitHub Copilot X. It’s our vision for the future of AI-powered software development. Check it out ⬇️ https://t.co/3Xrn7dAPgi
— GitHub (@github) March 22, 2023
Additional functions
In addition to auto-completing comments and codes, Github has revealed that the Copilot X will provide developers with customization for each coding project, team, and repository. The tool will have a chat interface called Copilot Chat for the code editor. It is natively integrated with VS Code and Visual Studio. This identifies what type of code the programmer typed and what error messages are displayed which is fully embedded into the Integrated Development Environment. The chat interface will also have GitHub’s voice-to-code AI technology extension, Copilot Voice. This enables developers to verbally provide natural language prompts to answer queries or make suggestions in code.
Moreover, Copilot X can also make pull requests with the help of the new GPT-4 model and provide AI-generated tags to pull request descriptions. A pull request refers to an event in which the codes are reviewed to merge into a project. This can automatically alert developers when they forget to perform enough testing for a pull request. It can also offer potential tests that the developers can modify, approve, or reject depending on the requirements of the project. GitHub is initially concentrating on beginning documentation with Azure Docs, MDN, and React.
To reduce the developers’ time and effort, GitHub is also introducing Copilot CLI, which can formulate commands and loops and take care of unclear questions to satisfy queries. To use this tool, users will have to initially sign up on their platform and join the waitlist.
https://twitter.com/ashtom/status/1638541096702603267
Conclusion
With these new features, Copilot X can help programmers with a lot more than just finding errors in the code. The new tool aims to reduce boilerplate and manual tasks. This allows developers to focus on more challenging and creative work across each phase of the development process.
GitHub Copilot has made a significant impact on software development. It is hoping to improve the numbers even more with the launch of Copilot X. From auto-completing codes to reading documents to making up a pull request and beyond, it is almost certain that the future of coding will heavily rely on similar automated assistants.
YouTube: GitHub Copilot X
Photo credit: The feature image has been taken by David Woofall.
