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Why I don't use Copilot
June 4, 2023
[15]programming [16]artificial-intelligence
__________________________________________________________________
TL;DR Don’t install Copilot. It rots your brain and destroys the
environment.
__________________________________________________________________
[rubber-duck.jpg] [17]A rubber duck in use by a developer to aid code
review
[18]GitHub Copilot is a technology that is designed to help you write
code, kind of like your partner in [19]pair programming. But, you know,
it’s not an actual person. It’s “A.I.”–whatever that means.
In principle this sounds like it might actually be a good thing right?
I know several people, who I respect, that use it as part of their
daily work. I’ve heard [20]smart people say AI coding assistants like
Copilot will democratize programming, by making it possible for more
people to write code, and automate the drudgery out of their lives. I’m
not convinced.
Here’s why I don’t use Copilot (or ChatGPT) to write code:
1. Copilot’s suggestions are based on a corpus of open source code in
GitHub, but the suggestions do not mention where the code came
from, and what the license is. GitHub is stealing and selling
intellectual property.
2. Copilot lets you write code faster. I don’t think more code is a
good thing. The more code there is, the more code there is to
maintain. Minimalism in features is usually a good thing too. Less
really is more.
3. As more and more programmers use Copilot it creates conservativism
in languages and frameworks that prevents people from creating and
learning new ways of doing things. Collectively, we get even more
stuck in our ways and biases. Some of the biases encoded into LLMs
are things that we are actively trying to [21]change.
4. Developers become dependent on Copilot for intellectual work.
Actually, maybe addicted is a better word here. The same could be
(and was) said about the effect of search engines on software
development work (e.g. Googling error messages). But the difference
is that search results need to be interpreted, and the resulting
web pages have important context that you often need to understand.
This is work that Copilot optimizes away and truncates our
knowledge in the process.
5. Copilot costs money. It doesn’t cost tons of money (for a
professional person in the USA) but it could be significant for
some. Who does it privilege? Also, it could change (see point 4).
Remember who owns this thing.
6. How much [22]energy does it take to run Copilot as millions of
developers outsource their intellectual work to its LLM
infrastructure? Is this massive centralization and enclosure really
progress in computing? Or is it a [23]step backwards as we try to
[24]reduce our energy use as a species?
7. What does Copilot see of the code in your editor? Does it use your
code as context for the prompt? What does it store, and remember,
and give to others? Somebody has probably looked into this, but if
they have it is always up for revision. Just out of principle I
don’t want my editor sending my code somewhere else without me
intentionally doing it.
8. Working with others who use Copilot makes my job harder, since they
sometimes don’t really understand the details of why the code is
written a particular way. Over time Copilot code can mix idioms,
styles and approaches, in ways that the developer doesn’t really
understand or even recognize. This makes maintenance harder.
As far as I can tell the only redeeming qualities of Copilot are:
1. Copilot encourages you to articulate and describe a problem as
written prose before starting to write code. You don’t need Copilot
for this. Maybe keep a work journal or write a [25]design document?
Maybe use your issue tracker? Use [26]text to communicate with
other people.
2. Copilot is more interactive than a [27]rubber duck. But, it turns
out Actual People are even more interactive and surprising. Reach
out to other professionals and make some friends. Go to workshops
and conferences.
3. I could be convinced that Copilot has a useful place in the
[28]review of code rather than the first draft of code. It wouldn’t
be a replacement for review by people, but I believe it could
potentially help people do the review. I don’t think this exists
yet?
4. Copilot makes me think critically about machine learning
technology, my profession and its place in the world.
Maybe my thinking on this will change. But I doubt it. I’m on the older
side for a software developer, and (hopefully) will retire some day.
Maybe people like me are on the way out, and writing code with Copilot
and ChatGPT is the future. Maybe programming has always been about
increasing layers of abstraction and this is just the next logical
layer. I really hope not.
I enjoy programming because it’s about reasoning, thinking, models,
concepts, expression, communication, ethics, reading, learning, making,
and process. It’s an art and a practice that is best done with other
people.
Increasingly I think it’s imperative for programming to be done more
slowly, more deliberatively, and as part of more conversations with
more people. The furious automation of everything is eating the world.
Programs need to run more efficiently. Programs need to be well
understood, by a more diverse and varied set of people. Programs need
to be robust and resilient. Programs need to be easier to change.
Can Copilot help with these [29]goals? I think the answer is no,
because it doesn’t actually understand anything, and more importantly,
it doesn’t promote understanding.
__________________________________________________________________
Update (2023-06-09): For another take on Copilot that uses this post as
a jumping off point see Vivek Haldar’s [30]Re: Why I don’t use Copilot.
Unless otherwise noted all the content here is licensed [31]CC-BY
References
1. https://inkdroid.org/feed.xml
2. file:///
3. file:///about/
4. file:///tags/
5. http://pinboard.in/u:edsu
6. https://www.flickr.com/photos/inkdroid
7. file:///podcasts/feed.opml
8. https://bandcamp.com/edsu
9. https://github.com/edsu
10. https://social.coop/@edsu
11. file:///talks/
12. file:///web-archives/archives/
13. file:///feed.xml
14. https://bookshop.org/wishlists/d7c0224f5440df8d2c174ad2cc38b3fca1aa813f
15. file:///tag/programming
16. file:///tag/artificial-intelligence
17. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rubber_duck_assisting_with_debugging.jpg
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub_Copilot
19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pair_programming
20. https://changelog.com/podcast/534
21. https://www.wired.com/story/tech-confronts-use-labels-master-slave/
22. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3442188.3445922
23. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/05/chatgpt-hidden-cost-gpu-compute/
24. https://www.jasonhickel.org/less-is-more
25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_design_description
26. https://graydon2.dreamwidth.org/193447.html
27. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging
28. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_review
29. https://permacomputing.net/
30. https://vivekhaldar.com/articles/re--why-i-don-t-use-copilot/
31. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/