Meet Devin AI, the world’s ‘first fully autonomous’ AI software engineer

Devin comes with some advanced capabilities in software development, including coding, debugging, problem-solving, etc. Here's all you need to know about it

Devin can plan and execute complex engineering tasks that would require thousands of decisions. (Photo: Cognition)

US-based applied AI lab, Cognition, has introduced what it claims is the world’s first AI software engineer. The makers say that the AI agent, named Devin, has passed practical engineering interviews held by leading AI companies. Cognition claims it has also completed real jobs posted on Upwork, an US-based freelancing platform. “Devin is a tireless, skilled teammate, equally ready to build alongside you or independently complete tasks for you to review. With Devin, engineers can focus on more interesting problems, and engineering teams can strive for more ambitious goals,” read the company’s official blog post.

What can Devin do?

The AI agent comes with some advanced capabilities in software development, including coding, debugging, problem-solving, etc. Devin uses machine learning algorithms to constantly learn and improve its performance and adapt according to new challenges. In simple words, Devin can build and deploy apps end-to-end and can also train and fine-tune its own AI models.

Devin can plan and execute complex engineering tasks that would require thousands of decisions. This is possible owing to Cognition’s advances in long-term reasoning and planning. According to the company, Devin can recall relevant context at each step, self-learn over time, and even fix mistakes.

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Besides, the makers have also endowed the AI software engineer with the ability to proactively collaborate with the user. It reports progress in real-time, is capable of accepting feedback, and works along with the user through design choices as needed.

What about Devin’s performance?

On the SWE-Bench benchmark (a benchmark for evaluating large language models on real-world software issues found on GitHub), Devin correctly resolved 13.86 per cent of the issues without any assistance compared with the 1.96 per cent unassisted and 4.80 per cent assisted of the previous state-of-the-art model.

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In terms of performance, Devin AI is capable of augmenting efficiency and speed within software development processes by automating repetitive tasks, instantly generating code, expediting project timelines, and cutting down development expenses substantially.

One of the most notable facets of Devin AI is that it is immune to human errors or inconsistencies. The AI agent is capable of guaranteeing precision and uniformity in coding practices which can lead to the development of superior-quality software products.

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It needs to be noted that the company has not disclosed anything about the AI model that is powering Devin AI, nor has it revealed detailed technical specifications. Some of the other popular AI-powered tools that help with coding are OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Polycoder, CodeT5, Tabnine, etc.

What challenges, opportunities does it bring?

While the company has elaborated on the capabilities of Devin, some experts feel that the AI software engineer may struggle with complex requirements or instances that rely on human intuition and creativity. Besides, AI tools such as Devin seem to fan concerns about job losses. However, others believe that Devin can be an ally for thousands of software engineers, offering new avenues of collaboration between human ingenuity and AI.

Cognition, the firm behind Devin, is headed by Scott Wu. Cognition calls itself an applied AI lab that is focussed on reasoning. The company claims that it is building AI teammates with capabilities that surpass existing AI tools. “Building Devin is just the first step—our hardest challenges still lie ahead,” read the website. The agent will be soon available to be hired for engineering works,but for now, companies need to join a waitlist.

Bijin Jose

Bijin Jose, an Assistant Editor at Indian Express Online in New Delhi, is a technology journalist with a portfolio spanning various prestigious publications. Starting as a citizen journalist with The Times of India in 2013, he transitioned through roles at India Today Digital and The Economic Times, before finding his niche at The Indian Express. With a BA in English from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, and an MA in English Literature, Bijin's expertise extends from crime reporting to cultural features. With a keen interest in closely covering developments in artificial intelligence, Bijin provides nuanced perspectives on its implications for society and beyond. ... Read More