Live data from Hacker News

GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

githubcopilotinvestigation.com

61–70 of 1001 posts

Re: GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

#61

Honestly, Github Copilot seems fine. It's just a tool that you're responsible for using responsibly. If I Google something, and copy and paste that, then Google is not responsible for my infringing. It's just "intelligent autocomplete".

I wonder what Dictionary companies thought about Autocomplete...

Re: GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

#62
post #53
post #41

This is a bit off-topic, but I wonder if there are people/teams right now creating git repos, doing the source code equivalent of "SEO" on it, and embedding backdoors in stupidly overoptimized for the training process code? I wonder when we'll hear about the first big hack that gets traced back to production code pushed live after CoPilot "suggested" eval(base64decode({webshell}))

If that code managed to hit production, then the problem is with the management and engineering leadership, not Copilot.

It's best to treat copilot like an eager intern who can churn out boring code for you. It still needs to be reviewed.

Re: GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

#64
Oh man. I want to continue using co-pilot. It has improved my productivity and made me excited to do things that I previously felt like a chore.

Also, programmers please do not hinder on other programmers work. If you do, someone higher up in the ladder with eat your cake at every opportunity.

Re: GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

#65
post #42

It seems like there's no good license that places absolutely no restrictions or requirements on people using your code (such as attribution and respecting patent rights) worldwide. I want my code to be used the way people treated text in the old days. There's texts that have been re-written, added to and edited by thousands of people over the centuries and yet they don't come with thousands of pages of attribution no…

You don't need to license it, you can just publish it with a declaration that as the author, you are releasing your work in to the public domain. However, in terms of licensing I believe MIT is the most permissive.

Re: GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

#66
post #2

Doesn't really explain how co-pilot is stealing your community. I've used co-pilot and it works great until you are past boilerplate than it falls apart.

They don't really explain in a satisfactory way how Copilot is "stealing communities" even though they themselves complain that Microsoft hasn't provided "solid legal references".

Copilot is an AI stunt, an exploration, trying something new and exciting with very mixed and not-so-useful results.

This lawsuit, however, is just lawyers doing what they do for fun. I guess the retained Microsoft lawyers love it too. Glad to see lawyers having so much fun and profit. But we would all be better off with out so much lawyering, can't they do something more worthwhile?

Re: GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

#67
post #13

> Microsoft char­ac­ter­izes the out­put of Copi­lot as a series of code "sug­ges­tions". Microsoft "does not claim any rights" in these sug­ges­tions. But nei­ther does Microsoft make any guar­an­tees about the cor­rect­ness, secu­rity, or exten­u­at­ing intel­lec­tual-prop­erty entan­gle­ments of the code so pro­duced. Once you accept a Copi­lot sug­ges­tion, all that becomes your prob­lem: > "You are respon­si­ble…

> Steve Ballmer They have some really good blow in Redmond. If anybody could win an award for being coked up and sweaty on stage... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhh_GeBPOhs

Fun story: That was my first employee town hall, in 2000. I was concerned for the fellow (and so very glad when he left, Satya has been so so so much better for the company and morale). It was definitely an... interesting introduction to the company.

See also this Domo video that turned it into a song. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ZDH45OAt8

Re: GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

#68
post #47
post #13

> Microsoft char­ac­ter­izes the out­put of Copi­lot as a series of code "sug­ges­tions". Microsoft "does not claim any rights" in these sug­ges­tions. But nei­ther does Microsoft make any guar­an­tees about the cor­rect­ness, secu­rity, or exten­u­at­ing intel­lec­tual-prop­erty entan­gle­ments of the code so pro­duced. Once you accept a Copi­lot sug­ges­tion, all that becomes your prob­lem: > "You are respon­si­ble…

Could you help me understand the link between the two?

It isn't so much a connection as an example of cognitive dissonance from the organisation.

On the one hand stating plainly that mixing in copy-left code and similar can be disastrously dangerous because it is a rampant virus. On the other hand not understanding why people think it might be a problem that their tool could encourage mixing in copy-left code.

Re: GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

#69

New tech creates winners and losers, and losers inevitably complain. See looms, VHS, Napster, etc. The more of this complaining I see, the more it falls flat. The only interesting thing is which side different communities end up being on. To be fair, record companies were not in the least bit sympathetic. Open source contributors are easier to identify with, though imo it doesn't actually make their concerns more val…

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Henry Ford

Re: GitHub Copi­lot inves­ti­ga­tion

#70

It's tragically beautiful how the copyleft crowd is putting so much effort into drastically expanding the scope of copyright. "I used the copyright to destroy the copyright." That sort of plot never works in practice.

> drastically expanding the scope of copyright.

I think you need to explain that more. The problem (or at least one problem) being explored here is that by using any code from co-pilot, you are responsible for making sure the licensing is correct. You could unknowingly be using and modifying GPL-licensed code in your non-GPL project, which is a violation if you don't publish your modifications.

We're not talking about expanding copyright, just protecting the existing copyright systems from being trampled by microsoft.

Post reply on HN