Rethinking Software Engineering in the Foundation Model Era: From Task-Driven AI Copilots to Goal-Driven AI Pair Programmers
<|reference_start|>Rethinking Software Engineering in the Foundation Model Era: From Task-Driven AI Copilots to Goal-Driven AI Pair Programmers: The advent of Foundation Models (FMs) and AI-powered copilots has transformed the landscape of software development, offering unprecedented code completion capabilities and enhancing developer productivity. However, the current task-driven nature of these copilots falls short in addressing the broader goals and complexities inherent in software engineering (SE). In this paper, we propose a paradigm shift towards goal-driven AI-powered pair programmers that collaborate with human developers in a more holistic and context-aware manner. We envision AI pair programmers that are goal-driven, human partners, SE-aware, and self-learning. These AI partners engage in iterative, conversation-driven development processes, aligning closely with human goals and facilitating informed decision-making. We discuss the desired attributes of such AI pair programmers and outline key challenges that must be addressed to realize this vision. Ultimately, our work represents a shift from AI-augmented SE to AI-transformed SE by replacing code completion with a collaborative partnership between humans and AI that enhances both productivity and software quality.<|reference_end|>
@article{hassan2024rethinking,
    title={Rethinking Software Engineering in the Foundation Model Era: From
  Task-Driven AI Copilots to Goal-Driven AI Pair Programmers},
    author={Ahmed E. Hassan, Gustavo A. Oliva, Dayi Lin, Boyuan Chen, Zhen Ming
  (Jack) Jiang},
    journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.10225},
    year={2024},
    archivePrefix={arXiv},
    eprint={2404.10225},
    primaryClass={cs.SE cs.AI}
}