By Anand Parthasarathy

One month ago, a San Francisco Bay Area and New York City-based   applied Artificial Intelligence  company , Cognition Labs, announced Devin, "The world’s first fully autonomous AI software engineer". The developers called it “a tireless, skilled teammate, equally ready to build alongside you or independently complete tasks for you to review.”

Just 10 days later, an Indian talent fuelled  AI-enabled security products  startup, stition.ai,  with its talent mostly based in  Kerala, announced it was readying a competitor –  Devika -- one moreover,  that would be open sourced.

A report by Dr Nivash Jeevanandam in The Heuristic, a weekly newsletter on AI from India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology states that like Devin, Devika utilizes machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to comprehend human commands. Its primary objective is to analyze such instructions and decompose them into practical and achievable tasks. Subsequently, it independently conducts research and generates code autonomously to accomplish the established goals.

It adds: “This AI tool, built in India, is a collaborative companion for developers, potentially providing a more easily attainable option than the US-based Devin. Devika's open-source nature enables more transparency and community participation in its development process.”
 

It may be early days yet: stition.ai co-founder Mufeed V.H., posts on ‘X’ ( formerly Twitter:
“As of now, Devika is far from the capabilities of Devin... but we'll eventually get there. So, I am calling the open-source community to join forces!”

Details  for prospective collaborators can be found here. The developers stress that an official release would occur once thorough testing and bug resolution had been finalized.

The MeitY report concludes: The development of Devika contributes an additional dimension to the worldwide competition for AI advancement, namely in software development. The potential effects of these AI tools on the computer employment market are still to be determined. Still, it is indisputable that the future of coding is on the verge of a substantial transformation.”

This has appeared in NewIndiaAbroad