Sandip Bhattacharya ☮️

I dont get the hate on #GithubCopilot. We should always encourage more ecosystem diversity in the AI space, especially around agents which let you use models from multiple vendors.

I would hate to see the space consolidate around #anthropic #openai #gemini only tools.

Also, my employer can pay for the frontier agents, but Github Copilot is the only affordable one among the four (especially the highest tier), and natively integrated into #Github.

Mar 27 at 5:55pmIvory for Mac
Show threadAnna Liberty2d ago

@sandipb It's the ethical, practical, and legal concerns with LLMs in general, and the fact that GitHub has been leveraging its special position as a git forge to train on code without developer consent

More diversity in the AI space would be great! Unfortunately GitHub isn't doing it fundamentally differently than anyone else.

Show threadSandip Bhattacharya ☮️2d ago

@liberty Not denying that aspect of LLMs at all. All the big ones are guilty of that.

However, there is currently a concerted effort by AI influencers to kill Github Copilot (even Github itself), to favor the big three. I was just addressing that.

Show threadBruce Simpson, Ph.D.2d ago
@sandipb @liberty I was under the impression Copilot was just reselling OpenAI models, do you have different data to back up your assertion?
Show threadSandip Bhattacharya ☮️2d ago
@bms48 @liberty it gives you access to models from all the major vendors as part of your subscription. Just like Cursor, and many other AI agents
Show threadBruce Simpson, Ph.D.2d ago
@sandipb @liberty Very well, I'm out of the loop with #Copilot as I pretty much shitcanned it on sight from anything I use at all on independent advice.
Show threadBruce Simpson, Ph.D.2d ago
@sandipb @liberty What about the rampant IP theft (what #GitHub did/are doing is illegal in my country, UK, at English law, #CDPA 1988) and the fact they try to push liability for #GenAI induced IP violations onto the user? You haven't addressed that in your post at all. #GrandTheftAutoComplete It's a cheap trick and just about all retail banks try to do the same. The late Prof. Ross Anderson of the University of Cambridge was vocal on that last point!
Show threadSandip Bhattacharya ☮️2d ago
@bms48 @liberty I didn’t address all that because it is unrelated to my point. Not because there are unimportant points. This is social media. Commenting on one aspect of a topic doesn’t require me to address all aspects of it to justify my post. 😀
Show threadBruce Simpson, Ph.D.2d ago
@sandipb @liberty Besides, there is no #Anthropic or #OpenAI for me any more. Or Google " #Gemini " (a name they hijacked and bluewashed). There is only Ed #Zitron https://wheresyoured.at/
Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At

The Words of Ed Zitron, a PR person and writer.

Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At
Show threadSandip Bhattacharya ☮️2d ago
@bms48 @liberty I follow and read Ed Zitron, and agree with him a lot.
But that doesn’t mean I avoid or ignore one of the great technological leaps of our time, which I can see with my own eyes has made an incredible difference in my work
Show threadBruce Simpson, Ph.D.2d ago
@sandipb @liberty Agree. It's not a complete dry hump. I am going to play follower to what the Cloudflare guys are doing with Claude via Opencode.ai which helps sandbox and manage the inherent risks of using an LLM. This is a matter of public record if you follow their git commits...
Show threadSandip Bhattacharya ☮️2d ago
@bms48 @liberty opencode is brilliant. Sadly api based llm access is very expensive. I do use opencode but using my copilot subscription to pay for model access 😀
Show threadSandip Bhattacharya ☮️2d ago
@bms48 @liberty There is a lot of corrections needed in the industry, but I am not important or influential enough to do anything about it. When a more sane path opens up, I will take it. And I will always root for and advocate open source options (25+ years Linux user here).
Show threadAnna Liberty2d ago
@sandipb @bms48 As long as you're not polluting open source code bases with more LLM-generated legal risk, all good by me!
Show threadSandip Bhattacharya ☮️2d ago

@liberty @bms48 at this point, tbh, I less concerned with legal risks from AI generated code, and more concerned with process related risks.

opensource code bases are getting hammered by AI slop PRs. So much so, that many repositories are putting up walls which will end up affecting real users. e.g. "web of trust" based contributions, etc

Show threadBruce Simpson, Ph.D.2d ago
@sandipb @liberty : @bagder was quoted by someone as saying the slop factor had reduced slightly following what gkh@LKML was saying
Show threadSandip Bhattacharya ☮️2d ago

@liberty @bms48 I am worried about these initiatives. They make it incredibly difficult for first time contributors to pitch in

https://itsfoss.com/news/mitchell-hashimoto-vouch/

Mitchell Hashimoto Launches 'Vouch' to Fight AI Slop in Open Source Ecosystem

New tool helps open source projects manage the scourge of AI slop.

It's FOSS
Show threadAnna Liberty2d ago
@sandipb @bms48 I'm not sure what the alternative is besides LLM companies going under and the tools not being as readily available
Show threadBruce Simpson, Ph.D.2d ago
@liberty @sandipb Cloud AI models on "big tech" infrastructure are a bit like crack cocaine and I think someone who often appears in a bomber jacket on stage showing how to get pwn3d knows this.
Show threadBruce Simpson, Ph.D.2d ago
@sandipb @liberty My response is to divest myself of GitHub as much as possible as from the view askew, it is a dying platform. One that cannot respect IP rights...
Show threadBruce Simpson, Ph.D.2d ago
@liberty @sandipb This is currently being debated in the reviews.FreeBSD.org moshpit. It is open but by human vetted account applications