AlphaCode, the AI ​​engine produced by Google's DeepMind, can program itself with "the expertise of an ordinary programmer".

DeepMind tested AlphaCode's capabilities by allowing this AI tool to participate in coding competitions organized by Codeforces - a platform that specializes in training the skills of tens of thousands of software developers around the world. AlphaCode's level is considered "normal" at the moment, but it is a big step forward in letting machines think and program on their own.

A DeepMind representative said, AlphaCode was born to solve open problems that require critical thinking, logic and language understanding. The new achievement also opens up the possibility of programming automation - the foundation for much of modern science and industry.

AlphaCode is not the first AI tool that can program itself. Last June, Microsoft released similar software called GitHub Copilot to assist developers by analyzing existing code, creating new code, and adding code to error code. In September 2021, OpenAI's Codex AI software can program itself in 12 languages. OpenAI is one of the most ambitious research labs in the world and received a billion USD investment in 2019.

DeepMind said it has tested AlphaCode and achieved positive results. However, the team representative admitted that the tasks for this AI are quite simple, and not complex enough when compared to the work of programmers in the real world.

Mikhail Mirzayanov, founder of Codeforces, admits he was initially skeptical of AlphaCode's capabilities. "Solving problems, even simple ones, in programming requires thinking and developing completely new algorithms. AlphaCode has exceeded expectations. I think it will have a future. promising," commented Mirzayanov.

AlphaCode can't beat the best programmers yet. However, some experts say it is only a matter of time, and fear that self-programming tools like AlphaCode need to be scrutinized to avoid undue impact in the future, such as: self-generating malware or even automatically triggering cyber attacks.

DeepMind was founded by Google in 2010 and spent billions of dollars before turning a profit in 2020. Last year, the division announced a research breakthrough with AlphaFold - an AI algorithm that can predict the shape of any protein. in the human body.

Source: vnexpress