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The Impact of Generative AI on Collaborative Open-Source Software Development: Evidence from GitHub Copilot

Created by
  • Haebom

Author

Fangchen Song, Ashish Agarwal, Wen Wen

Outline

This paper analyzes the impact of GitHub Copilot, a generative AI pair programmer, on open source software (OSS) development using data from GitHub. We find that using Copilot increases project-level code contributions by 5.9%, which is due to increased individual code contributions (2.1%) and increased developer engagement (3.4%). However, it also has the side effect of increasing code integration coordination time by 8%, which is due to increased code discussions by the AI pair programmer. We also observed differences in the effects between core and peripheral developers, with peripheral developers experiencing a relatively smaller increase in project-level code contributions and a larger increase in coordination time. In conclusion, AI pair programmers have a dual impact on project-level code contributions and coordination time in OSS development, and have a positive effect on overall productivity, but the effects vary depending on the developer role.

Takeaways, Limitations

Takeaways:
Demonstrates that generative AI can contribute to improving OSS development productivity.
Suggests that AI adoption can increase developer engagement and code contribution.
The issue of increased code integration and coordination time due to the use of AI is raised, and the need to establish an efficient collaboration method is emphasized.
Provided Takeaways for improving the OSS community structure by revealing differences in AI utilization effectiveness between core developers and peripheral developers.
Limitations:
Relies on GitHub data, making it difficult to generalize to OSS development environments on platforms other than GitHub.
It is difficult to rule out the influence of factors other than Copilot use.
Further research is needed on long-term effects and side effects.
Further review is needed for clarity and objectivity in the classification of developer roles.
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