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VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage

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Re: VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage

#671

Post by spixy »

saghm wrote: post #665
dmitriv wrote: post #539

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair point. We did catch it internally in testing (as we use VS Code for all our work, so some folks did stumble on it), but I think we underestimated the impact and should do a better job at that.

This is honestly the most concerning part of all of this. You're saying you knew that this exact bug was present up front and still decided to release it? This basically invalidates the entire premise that it was an innocent mistake. It's impossible for me to believe that you actually thought that people wouldn't care about 100% of their commits being attributed to Copilot even when it was never used. Either you're m…

Seems that they released it only in some internal / alpha version.

Re: VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage

#672

Post by rodw »

heisenbit wrote: post #603
Esophagus4 wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And also those early Spotify days where Spotify would automatically post what you’re listening to to your Facebook wall. I’ve always seen that practice of using the user as your recommendation lever without their consent as unethical.

My suspicion is that it violates the users copyright on their commit message.

Technically (in the US at least) purely AI-generated content has no copyright, hence any copyright associated with the commit can only assigned to the human authors (or the entity they are working for). As I understand it neither Copilot nor Microsoft should have any actual claim of authorship (from a copyright/IP perspective).

It's still quite problematic IMO

Re: VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage

#673

Post by Tade0 »

storus wrote: post #133
rsynnott wrote: post #26

One fascinating thing about the whole AI phenomenon is how incredibly hostile it is to _standards_. Whether something works properly, or is ethical, or is true, no longer matters at all; all that matters is "pls use our AI". Microsoft spent literal decades rehabilitating their reputation. And then set fire to the whole thing in an offering to their robot gods. And it's not just them. There was a time that Google care…

It's a complete takeover of technically incompetent management that feels like it can finally execute their ideas to the fullest instead of relying on those pesky swengs with their obstructions, complaints and problems. We'll soon get the management utopia everywhere.

Some time ago my then project owner remarked that possibly in the future apps won't require an UI and people will just interrogate the LLM directly.

I read that as a sign to make a coordinated exit.

Truth be told our project was one of many "catalogue of stuff" kind of apps which at this and projected scale could have well been a spreadsheet in the cloud with search enhanced by LLM.

Re: VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage

#674

Post by lionkor »

dsign wrote: post #517

This is bad. I need to start Monday warning my team about this and installing validation hooks in our repos that catch any commits with this. We don't have a non-AI policy, but we have an "approved AI" policy due to data security, and having all your commits say "Co-Authored-by Copilot" is more or less the same as as "I ** on infosec". We also have a "short commits message" policy, and that "Co-Authored" thingy takes…

short commit messages, but you would usually allow details in the details part of the commit message, right? Which is where this goes?

Re: VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage

#676

Post by [deleted] »

dmitriv wrote: post #268

I am the person who approved this PR and would like to acknowledge and apologize for the mistake of turning this feature on by default without sufficient upfront validation. There was no ill intent by evil corporation, but rather a desire to support functionality that some customers expect of VS Code w.r.t. AI-generated code. As folks mentioned here - many similar tools do this as well. Obviously, it should not be on…

[deleted]

Re: VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage

#677

Post by baobabKoodaa »

lelanthran wrote: post #179
Dylan16807 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's actually co authored then you should be fine on copyright. And of course dumb messages that aren't true won't affect copyright.

> If it's actually co authored then you should be fine on copyright How so? All your outoutput is now legally partly owned by Microsoft?

If I write "I own lelanthran's car", does that make me the legal owner of your car? No?

Re: VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage

#678

Post by skinfaxi »

tyre wrote: post #368
hirvi74 wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Outside this instance, how can one prove code was AI generated beyond a reasonable doubt? Also, do you (or anyone else) know how much AI/copied-code has to be modified for it to be considered independent? If AI generates code, and one just renames some variables/method signatures, then what?

> how can one prove code was AI generated beyond a reasonable doubt? Subpoena the provider they use. Even if they don’t retain the full context, they have to save API calls for billing and analytics. If you’re clauding for the hour up to and after the commit, one can reasonably assume you built it with (if not exclusively by) AI.

> If you’re clauding for the hour up to and after the commit, one can reasonably assume you built it with (if not exclusively by) AI.

That's not beyond a reasonable doubt.

Re: VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage

#680

Post by kaashif »

tehjoker wrote: post #510
lkjdsklf wrote: post #477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The torment nexus was built by engineers. Not management. It couldn't exist without engineers.

Right, workers build the world. We should run it. Actually. Why does management get to tell us what to do without elections?

Workers are necessary but not sufficient for most businesses. You also need capital. This can be provided by the workers and is for many worker owners businesses, but when the business is very capital intensive that's just not feasible.

Are workers going to be able to fund Apple's factories or ExxonMobil's oil exploration? No, so they're not in charge.

You absolutely can start a worker owned business right now, or go work for one.

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