After ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity AI, a new player has emerged in the tech space, Devin AI, helmed as the first-ever AI software engineer. The startup behind this never-been-before AI is Cognition, which is based in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Now, the question is, “Why is everyone talking about Devin AI?”
Let’s find out whether it’s actually good or just a bubble that will burst eventually.
What Exactly is Devin AI?
Cognition introduced Devin AI on 12th March 2024, as the world’s first fully autonomous AI software engineer. The CEO Scott Wu presented the initial look at an online video where the team talked about its immersive capabilities.
Cognition’s description states, “Devin is a tireless, skilled teammate, equally ready to build alongside you or independently complete tasks for you to review.”
So, basically what Cognition has created is not just an AI assistant but rather a full-fledged software buddy that can take your tedious coding burden. Moreover, it can work efficiently with automation and autonomous AI coding to make your complex coding work easy.
It has the brains to innovate, plan, design, and most importantly execute with near-perfect results. That’s why Cognition has so courageously put the ‘World’s first’ AI engineer tag with this AI tool.
The Groundbreaking Features of Devin AI
While you might be getting some idea about Devin AI as an automatic software engineer, it’s still tough to understand how it’s different. Let’s check out some of the unique features that set a new state of the art on the SWE-bench coding benchmark-
- Devin AI has intense decision-making and reasoning ability to execute complex engineering and coding tasks
- It can learn how to use new and unfamiliar technologies to improve itself
- The ability to make end-to-end apps from scratch makes it class-of-its-own
- Autonomous ability to learn the bugs & issues and fix them in codebases
- Integration of common developer tools like shell, and code editor for traditional computing environment
- It can contribute to mature production repositories
- Finally, the feature to actively collaborate with others is completely new tech in the making!
How to Use Devin AI?
As Devin AI has been launched very recently, it is still in the early access phase. To use or hire Devin AI as your coding colleague, here are the steps that you need to follow-
Step 1: Fill out the Google form to access Devin AI or contact through info@cognition-labs.com mailing address.
Step 2: Wait for the approval and once the approval is authorized, integrate it with your workflow.
Step 3: Define the project you want to work on and give it an outline.
Step 4: Once the project is defined, let Devin AI work its magic.
Step 5: When the project is complete, review and make changes as you please.
Step 6: After reviewing, Devin AI can help you deploy the project and you’re done!
Difference Between Devin AI & Other AI Tools
To understand the core functionalities, here’s a quick comparison among all the popular AI tools in the software industry right now-
| Features | Devin AI | GitHub Copilot | Tabnine |
| Functions | As a full-fledged software engineer | Code completion and variables | Code completion and |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous and able to work independently | Dependent on human inputs | Dependent on human inputs |
| Code Generation | Able to generate full code blocks and reviews | Limited to code snippets | Limited to code snippets |
| Debugging | Ability to learn and debug errors as it learns more | Unable to debug complex coding tasks and improve upon it | Unable to debug complex coding tasks and improve upon it |
These are only some of the features that make other AI tools look worse (they actually aren’t). So, you should understand now why Devin AI made such enormous waves in the software industry.
Should You Worry About Your SWE Job?
No, you don’t need to worry too much about your software or coding-related jobs as of now. Devin AI has been made to make the tedious and rigorous coding tasks easier, not to take away the livelihood of software engineers.
The main purpose of Devin AI is to help with entry-level to mid-level tasks so that engineers can find solutions to bigger problems in the world. Furthermore, the collaborative nature of this AI tech motivates others to adopt new methods of researching, planning, and executing coding tasks.
There can be actually many positive impacts of Devin AI in the software industry. Here’s some of them-
- Devin AI can help to create new opportunities for coders and engineers in machine learning, data science, and so on
- It can make coders and engineers more efficient and productive
- A strong influence on skill enhancement and career progressions if the AI is utilized properly
Conclusion
To conclude, Devin AI is truly a step into the future of AI and the interpersonal relationship between man and machine. It encapsulates the innovative minds of mankind and how we are marching forward into the futuristic tomorrow.
Devin AI is a hope for many and a curse for none!