A study by researchers at Brown University and multiple Chinese universities has found that AI bots can develop software in under 7 minutes for less than $1.
The study tasked AI bots powered by a version of ChatGPT’s 3.5 model with completing the software-development process without prior training. The researchers then created a hypothetical software-development company named ChatDev and broke it down into designing, coding, testing, and documenting.
During each stage, AI workers autonomously interacted with minimal human input, from selecting the appropriate programming language to detecting and resolving code bugs. The researchers also tasked ChatDev with designing a basic Gomoku game. The CEO initiated the process by requesting a programming language, to which the CTO proposed Python, highlighting its popularity among developers. This continued through the coding stage, where the programmer requested a graphical user interface from the designer, and so forth, until the software was completed.
Next, they assigned AI bots specific roles in each stage and gave them minimal human input. The researchers found that ChatDev was able to complete the full software-development process in under 7 minutes on average, at a cost of less than $1. The bots were also able to identify and troubleshoot potential vulnerabilities in the software.
The sources for this piece include an article in BusinessInsider.