GitHub Copilot gets a chatbot based on GPT-4 that helps write code

By admin On Mar 22, 2023

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GitHub is adding a chatbot to Copilot, an AI feature that helps developers write code. The new chatbot will be based on OpenAI’s GPT-4 model. Users can chat with Copilot X or interact with the model via voice.

The new chatbot is part of the Copilot that GitHub presented on Monday. That vision includes several Copilot features that will become available in the near future. GitHub will be the first to get a “ChatGPT-like” experience in developer code editors, available in technical preview on Monday, March 22. GitHub Copilot Chat builds on what parent company Microsoft did with OpenAI for the new Bing chatbot.

GitHub Copilot Chat is integrated natively into VS Code and Visual Studio. The model recognizes, among other things, the code that a developer has typed in the editor and what kind of error messages are displayed. Copilot can provide analyzes and explanations about what exactly certain pieces of code do, but also generate test units, add comments and propose bug fixes.

GitHub Copilot Chat can help with code debugging

GitHub will also add a voice control option to the chat function. This allows developers to provide verbal prompts to the Copilot model. GitHub has experimented with this before. Copilot users can register for a waiting list for the Copilot Chat technical preview. It is not known when the chat function will be officially available.

Under Copilot X, GitHub also comes with a Copilot feature for pull requests. The AI model can help developers fill in tags and descriptions for such requests. Tags are automatically completed by Copilot based on which code has been changed. Developers can then view and edit these customizations. Copilot is also coming to the command line interface. The feature helps developers there to write commands in the terminal. Copilot can also eventually answer questions about documentation.

The Copilot X features will be available in Microsoft VS Code and Visual Studio during the technical previews. Later the features will be extended to other editors. It is not known exactly when that will happen. GitHub does not yet mention concrete release dates for the new features.

GitHub Copilot can help developers execute commands in the CLI