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GitHub has just announced Copilot X, so what is this exciting new coding tool and what can it do?
We are going through something of an AI explosion right now. Just this week we’ve had an announcement about Adobe Firefly and now it’s the turn of GitHub to present its vision of AI.
GitHub Copilot X is a text generating AI similar to Google Bard or ChatGPT, in fact, it is powered by the same GPT-4 language model that is currently available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers. It builds on the hugely popular GitHub Copilot, offering a huge amount of new functionality.
You can sign up for the technical preview right now by joining the waiting list. Let’s get into some of its capabilities.
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Originality AI detector
What is GitHub Copilot X?
Copilot X is a hugely powerful tool, comprising a few different AIs fully integrated into your coding environment. It is capable of analysing and understanding the code you input, reacting to error messages, and explaining the functions of blocks.
It will also understand your questions or commands, offered in natural language, and will respond either with code, natural language or a mixture of both. This means it will talk you through its processes and explain why it made each choice, allowing you to more easily understand the code and to see where it has potentially made a mistake.
It can even produce documents commenting on any bit of code you give it. This has a multitude of uses from pointing out vulnerabilities to explaining the function of certain blocks, and even making suggested improvements.
You can also get Copilot X to stay at the side of your integrated development environment (IDE), meaning giving a prompt is just a click away. With plans to integrate a “Hey, GitHub” voice activation prompt, soon it will be potentially zero clicks away. Allowing you to keep your eyes and attention focused on the code.
It’s also adaptive, meaning that for tasks where the speed of response is the most important thing, the less powerful but speedier Codex AI is used. In the chat box, however, where accuracy is paramount, the GPT-4 powered chatbot responds.
It’s clear this technology has the capability to massively optimise programmers’ workflows, reducing the time spent on manual or boilerplate tasks. This will free up time to focus on creativity and innovation.
Frequently asked questions
Are there any GitHub CoPilot X alternatives
There are multiple other AIs that are capable of generating working code in response to prompts written in plain language. For example, ChatGPT can code.
How can a student get Copilot X for free?
Students can use GitHub Copilot for free, from there you should be able to sign up for the technical preview of Copilot X using the link above, though this has not been confirmed.
