GitHub is working on a new tool that will allow developers to code with their voice.
Announced at the annual GitHub Universe conference yesterday, the experimental feature works in tandem with Copilot, GitHub’s controversial AI-powered pair-programmer that collaborates with software developers by suggesting functions or lines of code — a bit like Gmail’s Smart Compose .
Copilot officially launched for everyone back in June, costing $10 per month or $100 per year after a free 60-day trial.
GitHub is serving access to the new voice feature via a waitlist that’s open for interested developers now, but essentially it will allow developers to activate Copilot’s ears via the “ Hey, GitHub ” wake word. It is limited in scope for the time being, insofar as it only works with Microsoft’s source-code editor VS Code, but it’s apparently working to expand things in the future.
According to GitHub, its new voice assistant can understand natural language requests for Copilot to suggest a code snippet, or summarize what a specific section of code does. But even if a developer doesn’t want any code suggestions, it can serve other practical use-cases such as helping them navigate a codebase by saying something like “ Hey GitHub, go to line 34 ,” or even control the IDE by toggling to zen mode.
GitHub copilot voice assistant in action Image Credits: GitHub
GitHub copilot voice assistant in action Image Credits: GitHub
While this is still an early stage experiment developed by an R&D team called GitHub Next , it could have significant ramifications from an accessibility perspective, as it reduces the amount of interaction that’s required with a mouse and keyboard.
It’s also not clear whether Copilot is yet able to talk back to a developer, but based on the initial demonstrations GitHub has published, it would appear not. A two-way dialog could be useful though, for example if a developer wants a quick audio summary of what a piece of code does, or if Copilot needs clarification on a specific request the user has made.
Elsewhere at GitHub Universe yesterday, the Microsoft-owned company also revealed that it would soon be targeting Copilot at the enterprise, with a new plan that allows businesses to buy licenses at a seat level — this will mean additional admin controls so companies can manage and control their Copilot deployment across the organization.
