• By quade
• 26 June 2024

Alibaba Cloud AI System Underwhelms Programmers

Alibaba Group Holding’s cloud division has launched the Alibaba Cloud AI system. This was dubbed the first AI programmer,” and uses the company’s proprietary large language model (LLM). The release was part of Alibaba’s efforts to monetize its technology.

The AI programmer, introduced by Alibaba Cloud AI is designed to help developers significantly reduce application development time, sometimes to mere minutes, according to a company statement released on Friday. However, while it was released with much fanfare many programmers report being underwhelmed by the system.

What Was the Alibaba Cloud AI System Supposed to Do?

Functioning as a “multi-intelligence agent,” Alibaba Cloud AI systems are supposed to act as an AI programmer. This means it will integrate the roles of software architect, development engineer, and test engineer.

Alibaba Cloud AI was said to handle tasks such as decomposition, code writing, testing, and debugging, deployed all at once through multiple conversations with the user.

“The development paradigm for software applications is changing. In the future, users will only need to identify problems and express requirements, making it possible to complete application development in minutes.”

-Xu Dong, general manager of Alibaba Cloud’s Tongyi Qianwen LLM service.

During a live demonstration at the summit, the AI programmer created an application from scratch in just 10 minutes, a task that the company stated would typically take half a day using traditional methods.

Why Aren’t Coders Impressed in Alibaba Cloud AI?

Human programmers are less impressed with the actual product of Alibaba Cloud AI. So far, reception has been mixed as they cited many issues while noting some advantages of this tool. among the critics is Liang Yan, a cryptocurrency industry.

“My job is mainly about choosing open-source projects and learning from them. It’s not only about meeting the requirements, but it’s also a way to understand the programme.”

-Liang Yan, programmer

Although he acknowledges that AI tools can save time in development, it also might affect programmers’ ability to understand their work. This can reduce opportunities for new coders who are less experienced.

Another critic of this tool is Yang Yi, a developer in the tech sector who has experience with other coding tools. He says that many AI coders are still in their early stages and cannot do that much yet.

“I asked AI to write specific code, but it generated code that was not so reliable, sometimes with grammatical or factual errors. It reduces the workload, but not completely.”

-Yang Yi, programmer

The launch of the AI programmer comes seven months after the introduction of Tongyi Lingma, Alibaba Cloud’s first AI coding assistant, which is also powered by Tongyi Qianwen.

Trained in open-source code, Tongyi Lingma can generate code from natural language instructions, run unit tests, and debug and optimize code. 

The basic version of Tongyi Lingma is free for individual users, while the corporate version, which includes additional management features, is available for a monthly fee of 159 yuan (US$22) per person, with a minimum requirement of 100 users.

The newly introduced AI programmer targets both individual and corporate developers, but it is not yet publicly available. Pricing details have not been disclosed, according to the company.

How Can Alibaba Cloud AI Benefit BPO Services?

While it’s not perfect, there are still some tangible benefits to using Alibaba Cloud AI, especially in the global BPO services. Many claim that this system can enhance efficiency and accuracy while reducing operational costs. Because even with its flaws, the system can still automate some of the most repetitive tasks like data entry, customer support, and some coding generation.

The AI system also adds an extra layer of checks and balances as it can also review the code to ensure that everything is accurate. All of this depends on how robust the BPO organization is. 

With Alibaba Cloud AI, BPO services can achieve faster turnaround times, lower error rates, and greater scalability. This technology not only boosts the quality of service but also provides a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving BPO industry. This can ensure the continued transition to offshore IT services.