We’re for Code Detection AND Coding Assistants

In our last blog, we laid out our case for using AI Code Detection AND Coding Assistants. We believe you should never hold back from using Coding assistants, but with credible research about the risks, you should also invest in a technology like AI Detector Pro Code.

The Top 5 Coding Assistants in the Market

  1. GitHub Co-Pilot
  2. Tabnine
  3. Codeium
  4. Amazon CodeWhisperer
  5. ChatGPT

We chose these Coding Assistants for many reasons, including ease of use, the variety of languages covered, and price. There are many blogs out there that discuss the pros and cons from a technical perspective. However, in this blog, we want to draw your attention to something more nuanced: your career and business implications of over-reliance on Code Assistants.   

What You Should Look For in a Coding Assistant

Each of these Code Assistants has its Pros and Cons. Some will help you with auto-completion. However, as we warned, auto-completion has the potential to rack up the most errors by compounding minor errors and forcing time-consuming debugging later on. Others are too simplistic to be used for anything other than simple commands to break up datasets.

With some coding assistants, you are only automating basic tasks and will continue to have significant creative problem-solving work. However, most of the analysis you should put into choosing a Coding Assistant isn’t necessarily technical; it relates to the business side of software programming. Often, software programmers forget to consider the business side of their career when making decisions. Having scoured the internet,   

Here are a few thoughts before you choose a Coding Assistant

First, Consider Your Programming Career More Holistically

Does the coding assistant help me with a language I don’t have as much experience in? Should I learn this language sooner rather than later so I don’t have to rely on a Coding Assistant?

It seems obvious, but you would be amazed at how often people forget the most prominent points. Carefully consider learning the language to advance your career in the long-term and not become overly reliant on a coding assistant.

If your career hinges on knowing a specific programming language, the best thing to do is to learn the language. If you’re using GitHub Copilot to get you through a project for C++, you’ll eventually fail or call attention to your lack of skill. There is no real way to escape the eventual need to learn.  

Does the Coding Assistant free me up on basic tasks so I can demonstrate a higher level of creativity and thinking skills to my manager?

Another issue to consider for your long-term success is to evaluate what you’ll be using the Coding Assistant to do. When you break your project up into tasks, label some tasks as repetitive and lower-level regarding analytical ability. If you don’t do it yourself, your manager will likely do it for you.

In the future, junior programmers will complete these tasks using AI coding assistants. However, if you can choose your own Coding Assistant, you do this exercise and demonstrate to your manager that the Coding Assistant merely did the grunt work while you applied your skill to higher-level creative tasks. You will also show management skills. Programmers who survive in the future of AI will not only understand creative programming; they can divide their projects into parts and assign Coding Assistants to lower-level tasks.   

Will my deadlines allow for debugging time? There are many Coding assistants available. Choose the one that fits the needs of your project. However, consider debugging time and choose a dedicated AI code detector since AI code contains the most bugs. 

Second, remember to Factor in the issue of Cybersecurity

Am I aware of the cybersecurity implications of this specific coding assistant? While there is no evidence that the Crowdstrike outage was caused by AI code, it is an excellent example of why there is so much concern about AI code in the industry. A recent research paper from Stanford demonstrated a gap between the actual security of AI code and the assumptions made by programmers using AI Coding Assistants. Chiefly, coders thought the code was more secure than it was. This assumption gap is another excellent reason to use AI Detector Pro Code and isolate the AI code so you can scrutinize it more closely. 

Do I know the contractual limitations of using a coding assistant when working on a project? Does my manager know? Have they approved a specific coding assistant? Contracts aren’t just about time or prices. They’re also about negotiated services that include a variety of variables. In the future, coding assistants will probably become a listed variable.

Some companies, like those in aerospace and defense, probably won’t allow coding assistants. You should know this upfront. It’s the same thing we tell writers who use our AI text detection product. The most straightforward answer if the contract says “no AI code” is to refrain from using an AI coding assistant.

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