Can AI learn to code?

Can AI Code
AI is coming along with artistic impression. There is Paul and e-David that can draw, an AI that can write a Beatles inspired song, followed by an AI that wrote a Christmas song. There's been a lot of work on natural language processing, but natural language understanding remains elusive. It's hard to keep up with all of AI's creative works and how fast AI will go from pattern-based expressions to truly creative ones.


Coding, a significant AI challenge



Getting an AI to code is going to get a lot of attention. Microsoft Research and Cambridge University are experimenting with DeepCoder an AI that codes by reusing existing lines of code from other programs. It can solve challenges that require around five lines of code. It's a significant achievement, though DeepCoder's researchers admit that even basic programming challenges will take a lot more research and "Generating a really big piece of code in one shot is hard, and potentially unrealistic."

Still, for those of us who grew up coding or began our careers as software developers, this achievement makes us wonder how hard it will be to succeed at the next challenge and how fast will we see breakthroughs in this line of research. Is it a matter of breaking down coding challenges to the right set of expressions for AI to process, or is there a fundamental creativity in coding that will be difficult for AI to replicate? Having AI assemble code rather than program fresh lines of code seems like a good starting point knowing that it is often easier and faster for humans to reuse code rather than build new.

But the hardest challenge may be in deciding what coding problems to apply AI and the optimal way to present coding tools or skills to an AI engine. Trying to get AI to code even simple programming assignments is a challenge because coding is an expression. It's closer to natural language challenges, whereas successful AI has been in areas of pattern recognition (computer vision, basic forms of art and music) and decision making (playing games, self-driving cars).  

We'll have to wait and see!

1 comment:

  1. I just have to immerse myself in computer science, since the previous experience of learning to program languages was not particularly successful.
    Most of the tasks in college I and my friends did with the help of experts https://www.assignmentexpert.com/programming since none of us planned to associate our life with programming in the future. And now fate makes a completely different turn and some of us have found coding quite necessary. However, I think this challenge is within my power. I have the plan to pass three different levels of programming skill: code generator, program generator, and software developer at all.

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About Isaac Sacolick

Isaac Sacolick is President of StarCIO, a technology leadership company that guides organizations on building digital transformation core competencies. He is the author of Digital Trailblazer and the Amazon bestseller Driving Digital and speaks about agile planning, devops, data science, product management, and other digital transformation best practices. Sacolick is a recognized top social CIO, a digital transformation influencer, and has over 900 articles published at InfoWorld, CIO.com, his blog Social, Agile, and Transformation, and other sites. You can find him sharing new insights @NYIke on Twitter, his Driving Digital Standup YouTube channel, or during the Coffee with Digital Trailblazers.