Hi Eben,

I did the free trial of Copilot for a month. It was impressive at
scaffolding out working code quickly. You get in the habit of writing a
comment or long function name that indicates what you're trying to do and
it then writes the code based on that. It's nice in that it enforces those
good habits. This presentation <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwAzIpc4AnA>
outlines good workflows and also pitfalls. Copilot "hallucinates" like
other LLM AIs. It will import libraries that don't exist but look like they
should. I don't think it understands typing—if you write a function in one
file, import it in another, it doesn't necessarily know the signature
(though your editor might).

Anyways, I did not renew my subscription when it ended, but I mentally
noted that if I start a code-heavy project I might subscribe again. If my
work would pay for it, that'd be great, but I haven't bothered asking.

There's also an ethical issue in that a lot of people are annoyed that
GitHub, as with many of these AI projects, is using people's IP for
training without much consideration. I'm not sure it's possible to opt out
and I don't think they're examining repo licenses to abide by them.

Best,
Eric


On Mon, Aug 28, 2023 at 8:51 AM Eben English <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Just heard about GitHub Copilot ("AI"-based pair programming integrated
> directly into your code editor) and I'm curious if anyone on this list has
> tried it out, or is actively using it?
>
> https://github.com/features/copilot
>
> If so, what has your experience been (what types of projects or languages
> has it been useful for, etc.)? Is it worth the $19/month?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Eben English (he/him/his)
> Digital Repository Services Manager
> Boston Public Library
>