Khái niệm cốt lõi
AI pair programmers that are goal-driven, human partners, SE-aware, and self-learning can transform software engineering by replacing task-driven code completion with a collaborative partnership that enhances both productivity and software quality.
Tóm tắt
The paper proposes a paradigm shift from task-driven AI copilots to goal-driven AI pair programmers that can collaborate with human developers in a more holistic and context-aware manner. The key attributes of the envisioned AI pair programmers are:
Goal-driven: They focus on the broader goals and complexities inherent in software engineering, rather than just task-level code completion.
Human partners: They engage in iterative, conversation-driven development processes, aligning closely with human goals and facilitating informed decision-making.
SE-aware: They have a deep understanding of software engineering principles, design patterns, and best practices, enabling them to reason about architectural trade-offs and perform complex code changes beyond just additive tasks.
Self-learning: They learn from their interactions with humans, continuously improving their ability to communicate, provide mentoring, and adapt to project-specific constraints and human preferences.
The authors discuss key challenges that must be addressed to realize this vision, including speeding up human-AI alignment, transitioning from prompts to natural inquiries, developing cheaper and smarter code models, and leveraging the mentoring potential of AI pair programmers.
Thống kê
"Copilots took developers by storm. Copilots are advanced code completion systems that are powered by Foundation Models (FMs)."
"Research suggests that GitHub Copilot may have a beneficial effect on developer productivity, particularly on mundane repetitive tasks."
"Recent research has shown that code produced by GitHub Copilot may be buggy and have performance issues."
Trích dẫn
"The hype around novel technologies such as copilots have systematically created inflated and often unrealistic expectations."
"The fundamental flaw of copilots lies is in the abstraction level at which they operate: tasks (or more practically, localized code changes)."
"Ultimately, our vision of an AI pair-programmer leads to a shift from AI-augmented SE to AI-transformed SE."