Avoiding the dangers of AI-generated code [Video]

2023 has been a breakout year for developers and generative AI. GitHub Copilot graduated from its technical preview stage in June 2022, and OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022. Just 18 months later, according to a survey by Sourcegraph, 95% of developers report they use generative AI to assist them in writing code. Generative AI can help developers write more code in a shorter space of time, but we need to consider how much of a good thing that may be.

When we talk about AI tools for software development, right now that mostly means ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot, though there is competition from Google Bard, Amazon CodeWhisperer, and Sourcegraph’s Cody. Developers are finding success using generative AI to address common, repetitive, and low-complexity coding issues. However, these assistants fall short of understanding complex code bases, recognizing intricate patterns, and detecting complex issues and vulnerabilities.

According to early research by GitHub regarding the usage of Copilot…